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RECAP: Chicago falls at Utah 5–2 after slow start in season opener

  
RECAP: Chicago falls at Utah 5–2 after slow start in season opener
The Chicago Blackhawks fell to the Utah Hockey Club 5–2 in Tuesday's season opener despite two assists from Connor Bedard. (Photo courtesy of Spenser Heaps / AP Photo)

The Chicago Blackhawks fell down early to the Utah Hockey Club 3–0 and could not get back into the game before falling 5–2 in the inaugural game for Utah in Salt Lake City. Luke Richardson’s lineup looked to be a step slow early, and the Blackhawks could not overcome some missed opportunities that rang off the goal posts early in the second period.

Here was the Blackhawks’ opening night lineup:

First period

Utah scored first when forward Dylan Guenther fired a one-time blast past Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek to put the home team up 1–0 at the 4:46 mark of the frame. The shot appeared to surprise Mrazek and looked to be one that the netminder would like back.

Utah Captain Clayton Keller would not waste much time putting a puck behind Mrazek when he put a backhand attempt into the net at the 12:25 mark to put Utah up 2–0. A horrible turnover at the blue line by Craig Smith ended up on the stick of Keller, and after a fanned attempt by forward Nick Schmaltz, Keller finished the opportunity.

Second period

Chicago came out in the middle frame and showed a jump in their step they did not possess in the opening frame. A few chances rang off the goal posts early and the visiting team showed nothing on the scoreboard from the chances and it started to look like it was going to be “one of those nights” for the Blackhawks.

That night continued when forward Barrett Hayton tipped in a shot from Mikhail Sergachev at the 8:46 mark of the period.

Teuvo Teravainen scored the Blackhawks’ first goal of the season to shorten the Utah lead to 3–1 when Connor Bedard took a puck around Sergachev at the blue line and found Teravainen for a backhand goal. Sergachev either got caught not wanting to lay the hit on Bedard or was not sure he could play the puck, but Bedard made the defenseman pay for the indecision as the puck ended up behind Utah goaltender Connor Ingram.

Third period

Newly named captain Nick Foligno beat Ingram with a tip-in after winning a faceoff in his own zone—faceoffs do count—and redirected a shot from Alex Vlasic’s point shot past Ingram to pull within a goal at 3–2 at the 4:48 mark of the final period.

That would be all the scoring for the Blackhawks, as Guenther scored an empty-net goal for this second tally of the game. The goal would not be the last, as Lawson Crouse scored his first of the season 20 seconds later to finish off the Blackhawks 5–2.

Analysis

The Blackhawks could not overcome a slow start after falling behind 3–0 but did show some grit to fight back and make the game 3–2 midway through the second frame. After an empty-net goal and another soft goal by Mrazek, the end score of 5–2 looked worse than the game actually played out.

Mrazek was in mid-season form giving up a soft goal early and stopping only 20 of the 24 shots he faced for an .833 save percentage for the night.

Bedard looked good all night with two assists in 21:14 minutes of ice time for the game. His chemistry with Teravainen will be fun to watch early in the season. The hope would be Richardson keeps the two swift forwards together as they try and find a good fit to the puzzle on the other side of Bedard, as Ilya Mikheyev probably will not be the answer.

The Blackhawks return to the ice on Friday for a 7 p.m. CDT puck drop in Manitoba against the Winnipeg Jets.

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