In the Chicago Blackhawks’ final home game of the 2023–24 season, Chicago had another NHL rookie debut. The recently signed Frank Nazar, out of the University of Michigan, took his rookie lap at the United Center. Nazar joins Landon Slaggert and Ethan Del Mastro as the most recent rookie additions to the Blackhawks’ roster. The Hawks rolled out one of their youngest lineups to date, including Connor Bedard (18), Kevin Korchinski (19), Nazar (20), Del Mastro (21), Lukas Reichel (21), Alex Vlasic (22) and the elder skatesman, Philipp Kurashev (24).
First period
Nazar started the game on the third line centering Joey Anderson and Jason Dickinson. The young rookie was not phased in his first NHL start as he won the opening face-off against longtime NHLer Jordan Staal.
Later in the period, Nazar found himself wide open entering the offensive end and buried his first NHL shot. It was one of two shots the Hawks had in the first period.
FRANK NAZAR SCORES HIS FIRST NHL GOAL ON HIS FIRST NHL SHOT ‼️👏 pic.twitter.com/KWIeewZeR4
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 14, 2024
Nazar also got an A-plus on his celebration as the Hawks took a 1–0 into intermission.
Second period
In the second period, the Hurricane struck back with a goal from Staal to the tie game at 1–1. Later in the period, Korchinski failed to clear the zone on an errant pass that led to a high-danger chance from Jake Guentzel. Petr Mrazek was able to flash the glove and the snatch the puck out of the air to keep the score level.
Despite the score being tied at 1–1, the Hurricanes severely out shot the Hawks by a wide margin in the period, with 16 shots to the Hawks’ nine, and for the game, it was 25–11 in favor of Carolina after 40 minutes.
Third period
The Hawks got on the board first. Lukas Reichel made a strong move to the net that was deflected out to Andreas Athanasiou, who buried the rebound to put the Hawks ahead 2–1.
DOUBLE A GIVES THE HAWKS THE LEAD 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5mbBOIala3
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) April 14, 2024
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Reichel has been better since returning from the Rockford. The Hawks maintained the lead until Seth Jarvis scored on the power play. Later in the period, Jarvis fired another shot past Mrazek for his second goal of the game.
With the game hanging in the balance, the Hawks pulled Mrazek for the extra attacker. The Hawks were unable to capitalize. Sebastian Aho scored an empty-netter to finish off the Hawks 4–2.
Analysis
The Hawks are ending another dreadful season, but there could be light appearing off in the distance. The Hawks are starting to see guys matriculate to the NHL from Kyle Davidson’s drafts. This season saw the debut of Bedard and his game translating to the NHL. Vlasic took a huge step forward in his development and looks to be an elite shutdown defenseman. Korchinski has shown flashes of promise, Kurashev set career highs in scoring and the debuts of Nazar, Slaggert and Del Mastro provided further glimpses of the future.
This offseason is going to be critical to the future of the Blackhawks. The Hawks have to augment this roster without mortgaging the future. We are starting to see some young pieces take shape, but fans need to be realistic with their expectations for the young guys.
The Hawks are going to need more of those pieces to take the next step at the AHL and NHL level next season to start trending upward. The Hawks’ next game is Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The game starts at 9 p.m. CDT.