LAS VEGAS — It all began when T.J. Brodie, coming off a healthy scratch, fumbled a puck when trying to exit the defensive zone Thursday. It ended up in the back of the Chicago Blackhawks’ net.
Pat Maroon couldn’t get back fast enough to box out the Vegas Golden Knight’s Nicolas Hague, and Hague scored. Teuvo Teräväinen’s tripping penalty led to a Golden Knights power-play goal. A Connor Bedard penalty, the Blackhawks’ third of the first period, led to another goal. And finally, Ryan Donato had the puck knocked off him at the wall; Pavel Dorofeyev gained possession, skated past Alex Vlasic and scored. In 20 minutes, the Golden Knights had five goals, all scored on Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrázek, whose save percentage continued to plunge.
“That first period, the frustrating part was it felt like it was self-induced,” Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy said. “It felt like we were the ones letting them get by us on rushes or we were the ones being careless with our breakouts, things like that.”
A period later, Arvid Söderblom took the Blackhawks’ net. Not long after, Frank Nazar stole the puck in the neutral zone and carried it into the offensive zone. Tyler Bertuzzi’s shot was blocked; Colton Dach won the puck back off the forecheck, and Bertuzzi moved it to Nazar high in the zone. Nazar’s shot deflected off Dach and into the net. Less than five minutes later, Donato set up a wide-open Ethan Del Mastro with a backhanded pass, and Del Mastro buried the shot.
The Blackhawks kept on pushing over the last two periods and even pulled within a goal. But the Golden Knights held on for a 7-5 victory. But a point had been made: There’s no reason for the Blackhawks to be playing their veterans over their young players in the remaining games. The season is well lost; four consecutive losses after the break have buried them further. Led by their young players, the Blackhawks can’t be any worse than they were in Thursday’s first period, in the entirety of Tuesday’s game against the Utah Hockey Club, or in most of their play since returning after the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“Really nice,” Murphy said of the young players’ contributions in the comeback. “Yeah, it just shows that they’re willing to make plays when you’re out against a good team or when the game is not going well to start. So hopefully, this is a big lesson game for all of us. We’ve obviously had a lot of losses lately, but at some point we got to take certain pieces of them and really turn them around and get wins.”
That means no more Brodie. Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sörensen has sat Brodie a few times since taking over, but Brodie has continued to find his way back into the lineup. That often has to do with the inconsistencies of the Blackhawks’ young defensemen, especially Nolan Allan, but the hard truth is the Blackhawks allow fewer goals with Allan on the ice than Brodie. The Blackhawks have been outscored 42-21 with Brodie on the ice at five-on-five. It isn’t a ton better with Allan — the Blackhawks are being outscored 34-19 with him on the ice — but it is better, and Allan is a potential piece of the future. It’d be shocking if the Blackhawks didn’t buy out Brodie after the season.
“Today, obviously tough start to the game,” Sörensen said of Brodie. “I think he’s pressing a little bit. He’s been in and out of the lineup a little bit. He knows it; he hasn’t played well. We’ve talked about it. You put extra weight on your own shoulders at times, and it goes the wrong way.”
That means a limited amount of Mrázek down the stretch. A busy schedule will necessitate two goalies, but the Blackhawks need to start designating Söderblom as their No. 1 goalie. Mrázek hasn’t consistently been the same goalie he was in November. In February, he has allowed five goals in three of his four starts. Söderblom hasn’t been steady every start, but he’s been the more consistent presence in net. Though both goalies will likely return next season, Söderblom is the most likely to be part of the future.
That means inserting Lukas Reichel back in for a veteran. The Blackhawks’ reasons for sitting Reichel aren’t unjustified. He lacks some attention to detail in his game, and he can be frustrating to coach. There’s a reason Luke Richardson and Sörensen made Reichel a healthy scratch. Still, Reichel has some upside to his game. Even in the game that led to his scratch, he made plays and had a few scoring chances. Maroon, Craig Smith and even Philipp Kurashev are likely to be gone this year. Reichel will probably still be around.
It also means taking more chances and putting more young players together like Sörensen did with Landon Slaggert, Nazar and Dach on Thursday. Sörensen had used that trio as a line in Rockford and decided to go with it in the NHL.
“It’s always good to play with those guys,” said Nazar, who had two primary assists Thursday. “Know what they’re going to do, know their style and how they’re going to play.”
It paid off. Slaggert wasn’t on the ice for Dach’s goal, but Nazar and Dach made the play happen just as they had in Rockford. Nazar used his instincts, speed and shot. Dach threw his body around, first on the forecheck and then at the net.
It could also mean giving Nazar more ice time. He has arguably been the Blackhawks’ best player lately. He’s getting the NHL game more and more. He seems to be around the puck consistently in all zones, tapping into that speed, and he has been creating at least a couple of quality chances most nights.
“Skating,” Sörensen said of what’s working for Nazar. “He’s just skating. That’s all it is. A lot of times it’s working and skating, either with the puck or off the puck.”
The Blackhawks could have even more youth coming. Some of it might depend on what happens with roster spots and ice time at the deadline — a Seth Jones trade opens up a lot — but young players are positioning themselves for call-ups. Kevin Korchinski continues to trend positively in Rockford and is probably due another NHL chance soon. The Blackhawks might even want to reward Artyom Levshunov with a few NHL games considering how he’s been playing in the AHL. Wyatt Kaiser and Louis Crevier are there, too. Among the forwards, Cole Guttman isn’t a kid at 25, but he leads the IceHogs in points and could be worth another call-up.
And then there are the Blackhawks’ college prospects potentially coming at the end of their seasons. Minnesota sophomores Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel are possibilities. Boston University junior Ryan Greene is the most likely one. Greene didn’t commit to anything when he was interviewed Thursday, but he has certainly been watching the Blackhawks’ youth movement.
“As a young player, it’s kind of the perfect situation is, obviously, the fact that they’re building young. And putting a lot of trust into the younger players is something that’s obviously really good to see,” Greene said. “It’s been pretty cool to be drafted with some of these guys and being friends with a lot of them. Like, seeing them get the chance to play in the NHL is just really cool. I’m happy for all those guys who have been able to get up and get a shot at it.”
Those shots should only increase over the Blackhawks’ final 23 games.
(Photo of Frank Nazar celebrating after a second-period goal: Jeff Bottari / NHLI via Getty Images)
