The Chicago Blackhawks did a lot of things right in Long Island. They just didn’t do the one thing that matters most.
Chicago outshot the New York Islanders 23-19 and owned a 54-37 edge in scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, but the scoreboard told the harder truth: a 4-1 loss on Thursday, Sept. 8.
The Hawks came in trying to build on a 4-2 home-opening win over the St. Louis Blues, then spent most of the night chasing the game after letting a promising start slip away.
The opening lineup reflected the latest injury shuffle. Teuvo Teravainen was out with the ankle issue he picked up in the previous game, and the Blackhawks called up Dominic Toninato from the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday (Sept.
7). Toninato stepped into the fourth-line center spot, while Oliver Moore moved up to the top line and Roman Kantserov slid into the second line.
Jeff Blashill had already experimented with that look last game once Teravainen was sidelined. The defensive pairs stayed the same, and Arvid Soderblom got the start in net for his second appearance of the season.
Chicago’s best stretch came early. The Blackhawks looked steady and controlled, and at one point they were ahead 5-2 in shots on goal.
But the game turned when they started trying to force plays, and the Islanders pounced on the turnovers. On New York’s second power play of the night, Bo Horvat scored for the 1-0 lead.
The Hawks never really got comfortable with the man advantage in the first period. They had two power-play chances, and both looked disjointed and out of sync. The drop-pass zone entry, again, didn’t work the way Chicago wanted it to.
Soderblom also hit a milestone early, making the 3000th save of his career in the first period. That made him the 12th goalie in franchise history to reach 3,000 saves.
The second period broke the game open. New York struck twice in a short span, first when Sam Rinzel broke his stick and was essentially taken out of the play, leaving Emil Heineman to bury a chance for 2-0. Then came another sequence that went the Islanders’ way and the Blackhawks’ way in all the wrong directions, ending with Anthony Duclair scoring to make it 3-0.
Chicago did push back in that middle frame, outshooting the Islanders 11-7 in the period, but the Hawks still went to the locker room staring at a three-goal deficit.
In the third, Chicago kept generating looks and couldn’t solve Ilya Sorokin. Eventually, the Blackhawks emptied the net with 3:50 left.
That led to a beautiful pass from Patrick Kane and a Frank Nazar finish that got Chicago on the board. Kane and Sam Rinzel were credited with the assists.
The relief didn’t last. The Islanders added an empty-net goal soon after to make it 4-1, and the frustration boiled over. Nazar was handed a five-minute major for the hit that followed.
Afterward, the quotes matched the result. Kane called the power play “sloppy”.
Bowen Byram said, "The story of the game was that we gave them their opportunities...we gave them way too many chances and looks." He added, "We gotta find ways to win games, and not ways to lose."
Blashill’s read was blunt: "I thought we were the better team, and we beat ourselves."
Now the Blackhawks head home for seven straight games, beginning with the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday (Oct. 10) and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (Oct. 13).
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There is also a television element to the reunion, since Olczyk is returning as an analyst for select CHSN games. For Blackhawks fans, it adds another voice who knows the market, the crest and the expectations that come with it, and his first assignment in that role is set to include a meeting with the Carolina Hurricanes. [Read more 🡒]