6 takeaways from the Chicago Blackhawks’ 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers: ‘You can only say so many times that you’re close’
The Chicago Blackhawks played the Philadelphia Flyers fairly closely, even if it didn’t show on the scoresheet in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss at the United Center.
That’s the last thing the Hawks want to hear.
“It’s disappointing,” said Colin Blackwell, who scored the Hawks’ lone goal. “We had some opportunities. Ultimately, it came down to (the fact) they outworked us in some of the different aspects of the game. I thought it was up for grabs for a little bit.”
Present on Blackwell’s mind is that 57 games into the season, the Hawks have only strung consecutive wins once.
“For me, I hope the other guys feel the same way, too — it’s frustrating,” he said. “Just doing the little things, being able to get the ship moving in the right direction.
“You can only say so many times that you’re close. It’s been close for a long time now.”
The Hawks started off the game with bad luck, courtesy of some friendly fire.
Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim opened the scoring with a wrister that deflected off Alex Vlasic’s stick.
Colin Blackwell answered about a minute later with a beauty of a toe drag goal.
In the second period, a tight game got away from the Hawks, thanks to a couple of miscues.
Travis Konecny turnstiled Jarred Tinordi before ripping a shot past Arvid Söderblom to extend his point streak to seven games.
“(Isaak Phillips) probably could have helped Tinordi a little bit on that Konecny rush goal,” coach Luke Richardson said. “But we’re trying to harp on our defense to stay on their sides, but there’s just plays that you have to learn how to read on the fly.”
Söderblom contributed to his downfall on Garnet Hathaway’s goal, serving up a rebound to Hathaway at the doorstep after stopping Noah Cates’ shot.
On the other side, the Hawks couldn’t get another bounce, despite Bedard letting loose on offense.
He made nine shot attempts, but only two were on goal. Six were blocked and another missed.
“It was a pretty even game,” Richardson said. “They’re just exactly what they are: they block a lot of shots. It was frustrating at the end trying to get pucks through to the net. But that’s kind of their M.O. and we knew that.
“We created as many good chances as them, but unfortunately, they got a couple through and we couldn’t find a rebound at the end.”
Richardson singled out Blackwell for praise, and not just for his goal.
“He was fired up on the bench in the third period,” the coach said. “The referee had to come and tell me to settle him down. But everybody can respect his energy and his desire out there.”
Here are six takeaways.
1. What does Arvid Söderblom have to do to get a win?
A humble suggestion: Söderblom’s going to have to make some stops he’s not expected to make.
It’s hard to stop Konecny from picking the corner, especially after he beat both defensemen, but sometimes big stops like that are required.
Söderblom also has to absorb more shots and not cough rebounds, particularly when there’s a lot of traffic around the net. It has been an Achilles heel for him.
Of course, that doesn’t let the Hawks off the hook. They seem to fall into their worst habits on defense when he’s in the net.
Blackwell said, “We haven’t given (Söderblom or Petr Mrázek) run-support offense that they need to get in the win column, so it’s definitely frustrating and something we’ve talked about the last few games he’s been in the net.
“Definitely disappointing, frustrating, and I’m sure he’s pretty disappointed too.”
2. Was that the prettiest goal of Colin Blackwell’s career?
Colin Blackwell ties the game with a spectacular curl-and-drag!
: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax https://t.co/W9mpYG1lMO pic.twitter.com/MgCLrs5qi6
— NHL (@NHL) February 22, 2024
Joey Anderson sprung Blackwell on a two-on-one with Jason Dickinson.
Philadelphia’s Jamie Drysdale dropped into a slide technique to cut off a pass to Dickinson, but Blackwell curled and dragged around him before picking a corner on Samuel Ersson.
“Great patience by him,” said Anderson, who had the assist. “Great thought process to shoot against the grain there. Even seeing plays like that, obviously having Connor (Bedard) back, guys start to feel a little more confident just watching that.”
Blackwell threw more credit toward Anderson and the defense for setting things in motion.
“Everybody was just doing great stuff defensively that allowed me to get a break and then jumping up into the play,” he said. “(Anderson) made a great indirect pass that gave me some time and space.
“I’ve been lucky playing (with) those guys, just a benefactor of people putting me in the right place, right direction, so kudos to those guys. Definitely, it was a nice one, but they did the hard work in D-zone.”
3. Connor Bedard turns in another non-highlight highlight.
In the second period, Bedard whacked away Nick Seeler’s stick, maneuvered the puck between his legs and snapped a quick backhander.
The only part of the trick he couldn’t pull off was beating Ersson on the play.
“It was a good move,” Anderson said. “Guys are always looking for him to do things like that. … Eventually one of those will go in and the whole building will go crazy.”
4. Here’s Taylor Raddysh’s hard luck in a nutshell.
Taylor Raddysh had a first-period two-on-one rush with Tyler Johnson, and Johnson served up a well-placed backdoor pass.
Raddysh tried to go top-shelf but Ersson plucked it out of the air.
The Hawks forward has been stuck at five goals since Dec. 14 in Seattle. He has had one point since returning from a left groin strain Jan. 9.
“Good save” by Ersson, Richardson said. “(Raddysh) could always get it up a little more, get it off a little quicker, but he wants to make sure, with a floating pass, that he gets a piece of it, or a good enough piece of it, that he did.
“He’s just kind of snake-bitten in that goal area a little bit right now.”
5. The Hawks are “shooting” themselves in the foot.
The Hawks’ plan going into the game was to protect Söderblom by limiting the shots he faced.
“Nothing to the backdoor or nothing that’s surprising to a goaltender where it creates untrust, where it makes a goalie sink into his net,” Richardson said.
So much for that idea.
The Flyers put up all varieties in the 33 shots on goal they recorded, eclipsing the Hawks’ 22.
Blackwell said, “Philly comes hard, they’re a high-volume shooting team. You get in our defensive zone, they’re gonna be shooting pucks from everywhere.”
Richardson added, “I thought we had a lot more O-zone play than they did, other than their two goals. We just couldn’t get the puck to the net.”
The Hawks just came off back-to-back games in which they allowed 42 shots on goal. They’ve gotten into a run where opponents create chances in the second and third periods and the Hawks turn the tables in the third.
Anderson said the Hawks need to get into attack mode earlier.
“So much of the game we let the other team start off dictating,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to get four lines into it, get four lines rolling. (It will) lead to more success and guys are going to build off that.
“Getting in the third period (when you) start doing that, it’s too late.”
6. Andreas Athanasiou inches closer to a return.
Andreas Athanasiou, wearing a non-contact jersey, takes shots off to himself during Blackhawks morning skate. pic.twitter.com/v8VahgZwY3
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) February 21, 2024
He participated in some drills and took some shots off to himself, but he wore a green non-contact jersey, signifying he’s still working his way back to game shape.
Wednesday represented Athanasiou’s 45th missed game but Richardson remains optimistic he’ll return to action this season.
“He said he’s feeling really good on controlled stuff,” Richardson said after morning skate. “We’re just kind of watching the quick-twitch, fast-burst stuff, which is obviously his game. We haven’t graduated there yet.
“Today’s (skate is) another first step of continuing to try and get consecutive days in a row. That’s going to be big for him for conditioning.”
Richardson couldn’t estimate a timeline but he’ll rely mostly on Athanasiou’s gut.
“He’s the only one who’s going to be able to give us that feeling of when he feels a little bit more confident, less vulnerable,” he said.