The Blackhawks have been such a yo-yo team this season. They haven’t been able to string any win streaks together, and have been waffling back and forth between wins and mostly losses for the whole season at this point. They just defeated the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night in Chicago, getting beat in every offensive department, but playing stellar defense en route to that victory. The lineup stayed mostly the same, save for Jarred Tinordi and Kevin Korchinski checking back in after spending some time on injured reserve.
First Period:
The Blackhawks and Canadiens traded chances for much of the first period. The Canadiens had some good shots on Petr Mrazek, but he managed to stop them all. A bad misplay by Nikita Zaitsev almost cost them a goal, but Mrazek managed to stop the Canadiens’ Jake Evans with the pad right in front of the net. The Blackhawks would get the next great chance to score. MacKenzie Entwisle got a good shot on Cayden Primeau in close. The rebound was lying right in front of him, and Anthony Beauvillier put a backhander right past him. Unfortunately, Jayden Struble was right there to have the puck go off of him, as he took up the goal crease.
But, with just over three minutes left in the period, the Blackhawks would find twine. Connor Bedard skated into the offensive zone and stopped along the boards. He got the puck over to Ryan Donato, who wristed the puck past Primeau, 1–0 Blackhawks. The Blackhawks would go into the intermission with that slimmest of leads.
The UC was owed a goal and Ryan Donato delivered!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/WVpW2kp8QI
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 23, 2023
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Second Period:
The second period took a few minutes to get started, but Colin Blackwell made sure it got going. He got the puck at center ice, deked a defender, and got the puck back to Jason Dickinson, who wristed the puck right past Primeau for a beautiful goal, 2–0 Blackhawks. This was Dickinson’s tenth goal, giving him a new career high.
Colin Blackwell makes it all happen and Jason Dickinson scores his 10th goal of the season, which is now a new career-high. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/OBlX1XnNY1
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 23, 2023
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Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, that is all the good that would come out of this game. Thirty-seven seconds later, the Canadiens won an offensive zone faceoff. The puck came back to Mike Matheson, who put the shot on net from the point. Mitchell Stephens was right in line with the shot to get the redirection, 2–1 Blackhawks. Then, with just under five minutes left in the period, things would get knotted up at two apiece. Sean Monahan got the puck from along the end boards out in front of the net. Josh Anderson was right there to put that puck past Mrazek and into the back of the net.
Unfortunately, the Blackhawks weren’t done taking shots in the chin in this period. Nick Suzuki put a shot on net that got slowed down by bodies in front. The puck settled in front, where Juraj Slafkovsky put a backhander on net, making it 3–2 Montreal. Then, Tyler Johnson managed to get a redirection right on net on a beautiful chance out in front. Primeau stopped that opportunity, sending the game to the intermission with that same 3–2 Canadiens lead.
Third Period:
In the third, both teams would trade chances early on, without anything to show for it. Then, with seven minutes remaining in the frame, the Canadiens would strike again. Cole Caulfield got a shot on net, with Nick Suzuki cleaning up the rebound to make it 4–2 Montreal. The Canadiens looked like they had added to that lead, but somehow got that goal from Jake Evans called back due to offsides. The play appeared to be completely onsides based on an overhead angle that, but still wasn’t allowed. Montreal would pick up that fifth goal on an empty netter from David Savard, giving them the 5–2 victory.
Analysis:
The Blackhawks really seem to struggle in games giving away the puck way too many times. Even against the Avalanche, where they won the game, they still had more giveaways. In this game, some of those even came in dangerous areas that could have resulted in a much worse outcome. They also have not done a good job recently of taking care of the fundamentals, like winning faceoffs. Winning less than fifty percent of your draws is not a good recipe for success in the same manner as giveaways.
The Blackhawks are back in action against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. That game will be at 7:00 pm Central on NBC Sports Chicago.