The Chicago Blackhawks entered Saturday night’s game coming off a loss to Montreal Canadiens on Friday. The Hawks hoped to get back on the winning track, facing the St. Louis Blues. Sadly, after a great first two periods, the Hawks collapsed to lose 7–5.
First period
In the first period, the Blues jumped out to the early lead with a goal from Robert Thomas. The Blackhawks answered less than a minute later with a goal from Connor Bedard, doing the “Michigan” to score.
OH MY GOODNESS CONNOR BEDARD!!! pic.twitter.com/saUpUBMXIx
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) December 24, 2023
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The Hawks scored again less than a minute later with a tip-in goal from Anthony Beauvillier to make it 2–1.
Second period
In the second period, Nick Folgino got the Hawks the board with a power play tally to extend the lead to 3–1. Colton Parkayko cut the lead in half with a goal to make the score 3–2. Jason Dickinson continued his hot streak, adding his 11th goal of the season to make the score 4–2 after 40 minutes.
Third period
The period started with Foligno adding another goal and extending the Blackhawks’ lead to 5–2. After the Foligno goal, the Blackhawks decided to start their holiday break early and allowed five unanswered goals on 22 shots. In a Festivus miracle for the Blues, they rallied from behind to win the game. This game will go down in Blackhawks-Blues history. St. Louis got goals from Brandon Saad, Jake Neighbours, two from Jordan Kyrou and one from Justin Faulk to win 7–5.
Analysis
In true Festivus tradition, there will be an airing of grievances. This Blackhawks team had a lot of problems in the third period. The first problem was the Hawks were outshot 22–2 in the third period; that is a ridiculous margin and led to the loss.
The second grievance was the goaltending. Arvid Soderblom was not good enough to win tonight. While he did make many impressive saves to keep the team in it, he did not make enough saves to win the game. Soderblom has allowed three goals or more in 12 of his 14 starts this season. While the Hawks had believed Soderblom had the makings of an NHL goalie, tonight’s performance may have killed that belief.
The third grievance is with the coaching staff. Despite the fact that wins and losses do not matter this season, the team still needed to win this game. An epic collapse of a loss like this can have long-term effects on the younger players going forward.
The final grievance is that in a game where Bedard scored on the “Michigan” and cemented his Calder Cup victory (sorry, Minnesota Wild fans), the Hawks still lost the game. While the “Michigan” from Bedard will be a highlight for eternity, the players and coaches should always remember the collapse.
The Blackhawks’ next game is at home on Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST.