The Blackhawks lost in Carolina last night. But their young players were once again the ones that were most noticeable on the ice (for good and bad). While Frank Nazar had a tough night staying on his feet and Lukas Reichel took a penalty at a terrible time late in the third, Connor Bedard tried to impose his will on the game from the start of the second period until the final horn. Nolan Allan played another strong, physical game. And Landon Slaggert was excellent in every phase of the game (even if the GameScore Impact Card apparently didn’t like his performance somehow).
- The other night when Bedard got hammered into the boards well after the whistle in the game in Tampa, a lot of Blackhawks fans were irate. And have been frequently this season as Bedard and other Blackhawks seemingly get tripped, slashed, whacked and roughed without a call coming their way. Apparently Nick Foligno is right there with us in that regard.
Are Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks getting a fair shake from the refs? Nick Foligno doesn't think so. And he's willing to go to extremes to make his point. “It gets tiring after a while when you feel like it’s always against you,” he said. Story: www.nytimes.com/athletic/610…
— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 31, 2025 at 7:48 AM
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- Seth Jones has 10 points in his last seven games. He had a gorgeous outlet pass to Bedard to spring him for the Blackhawks’ second goal of the night. But what stood out more than the assist last night was him playing physical defense. He led the team with five blocked shots and was in the mix all night. For the last couple weeks we’ve seen the Jones that everyone wants to see consistently.
- Ilya Mikheyev scored his ninth goal of the season last night and finished tied for the team lead with three shots on net. I think he’s probably been better than many fans expected this season after the Blackhawks got him in another salary dump trade with Vancouver. As a reminder: the Blackhawks got Mikheyev and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft (and the rights to Sam Lafferty) from the Canucks for a fourth-round pick in 2027.
- Philipp Kurashev skated a team-low 12 shifts and 9:51 in the game last night. He found a way to be minus-two in a game that saw the Canes only score two even-strength goals, and he did a lovely job puck watching while the eventual game-winning goal was scored. I wouldn’t be shocked if Pat Maroon was back in the lineup in Florida — both because of his size and experience against a heavy Panthers team and also because Kurashev wasn’t good last night.
- With Florida hosting the Blackhawks on Saturday, hear me out… how about this blue line?
Alex Vlasic — Seth Jones
Nolan Allan — Louis Crevier
Alec Martinez — Ethan Del Mastro
- Yesterday got increasingly busy in the hockey world as the night progressed, so I put together a Friday morning edition of our news and notes from Around the NHL. Be sure to check it out.
- As a reminder, I shared the weekend’s schedule for the Blackhawks’ college prospects.
- Nick Lardis scored his CHL-leading 42nd goal of the season in the first period last night for Brantford.
- The Bulldogs won the game 3-2 — thanks to their two Blackhawks prospects. Marek Vanacker scored the other two goals in the game.
- One potential Bears coaching hire is drawing mixed reviews.
- Back where it began? The Cubs and Padres have reportedly discussed a Dylan Cease trade.
- There’s a growing gambling scandal in the NBA.
Thursday night 🚨 from #Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis for @BulldogsOHL
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 31, 2025
His OHL leading 42nd
pic.twitter.com/UDuJ2DRBri
Thursday night 🚨 for #Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker for @BulldogsOHL
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 31, 2025
pic.twitter.com/uiYXogapPL
Second 🚨🚨 of the night for #Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker for @BulldogsOHL
pic.twitter.com/lZehjY3Kcr— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 31, 2025
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