Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeremy Coliton acknowledged there was “lots to learn, lots to teach” from a 6-5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in which the Hawks took the lead twice and watched it crumble within the final three minutes of the game Thursday night at the United Center.
Lesson No. 1: “Take care of the puck,” Colliton said.
“A lot of what they generated, particularly in the first two periods, was off us turning the puck over, or we end up taking a penalty after a turnover,” he said. “I thought we did a lot of good things, particularly early, especially in the first 30 minutes.
“But we give them life when we didn’t need to.”
Every team has turnovers, but throughout the early part of the season, the Hawks’ have seemed to pay immediate consequences.
Some of it could be growing pains for young players and some could be chemistry among unfamiliar teammates, but those become less valid as excuses as the season grows older.
The progress the Hawks have made in some corners has been as undeniable as it was unexpected, but this persistent problem hamstrings that progress.
“Just a bad feeling in all our stomachs,” rookie Ian Mitchell said. “One kind of got away from us.
“We’ve got to learn from it and try not to let it happen again. … We’re still learning. It still sucks, though.”
Here are five takeaways from the game.
1. Do the Hawks or the NHL track goals off turnovers?
That would be an interesting statistic.
No need to relitigate each prior instance of times an opponent immediately converted a turnover into a goal. We’ve seen it in games against the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and others, not to mention instances in which the Hawks narrowly dodged a score.
The first goal Thursday night came in the first period after Nicolas Beaudin was picked off coming out of the defensive zone and Cam Atkinson scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway. Side note: Atkinson (one goal, three assists) and Jack Roslovic (two goals) terrorized the Hawks.
Beaudin said he was “just trying to skate the puck there, trying to pass it to Kaner (Patrick Kane), (Nick) Foligno got a good stick and Atkinson had a pretty good shot. That was my fault.”
Beaudin made up for it in the second period with his first-career goal, which gave the Hawks their first lead.
But the rookie wasn’t alone. The Hawks recorded a season-high 17 giveaways in the game.
The Hawks have a lot of younger players such as Beaudin, and they’ve made their share of mistakes. But a lot of time the comeback kids have rallied to upset wins. But this time players across the board had a role in letting the other team stage a comeback.
The Hawks pondered whether this letdown still could be a teachable moment.
“It’s not really the player’s job to think about moral victories and learning from different situations,” Kane said.
Added Colliton: “We’ve stayed alive by not beating ourselves and we’ve come through in big moments. Tonight was the opposite. We were good, especially early, and we didn’t manage the game and came out on the wrong end of it.
“I’d rather learn when we win, but we’re going to learn just the same.”
2. As the Hawks’ penalty kill failed them, they also lacked ‘killer instinct’ in the third period.
The Hawks’ run of 14 penalty kills came to an end on the Blue Jackets’ second power-play opportunity, a boarding penalty on Nick Zadorov that followed a Columbus takeaway — incidentally, the streak started during the first game against the Blue Jackets.
Late in the second period, Roslovic one-timed a pass from Max Domi to bring the Blue Jackets within a goal at 3-2.
In the third period, the Hawks failed on a short-handed shot on goal and the Blue Jackets’ counterattack finished with Boone Jenner putting in the rebound off Atkinson’s shot, bringing them within a goal at 4-3.
“We turned the puck over (and) took a couple of penalties they scored on,” Colliton said of the third-period collapse.
Eight minutes into the period, Roslovic struck for the second time.
Goals from Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Stenlund came 1 minute, 27 seconds apart, with the latter coming with 1:14 remaining. Four goals in the third and the Hawks’ fate was sealed.
Said Kane: “A lot happened from us going up 4-2 to them scoring on the power play, them tying it up, got the lead, feeling good again, then they tied it up and took the lead. Just have to be better at shutting down the game.”
Colliton said the Hawks gave away the momentum they had built early in the second and third periods.
“We have to manage the puck better and have a killer instinct in the third period when we have the lead,” he said.
3. The loss overshadowed the strides Patrick Kane has made with his line.
Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Pius Suter played about 15 minutes together and dominated possession at five-on-five, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
The trio produced two goals: Kane’s nifty backhanded tap to Suter and DeBrincat’s cross-ice pass to Kane for his power-play goal in the third period.
“Suter’s just getting better and starting to familiarize himself with the NHL game,” Kane said. “He wins pucks back, he’s driving the net really well and creating space for his linemates. DeBrincat’s been great pretty much all year.
“I still think there’s more there. I can be better. I lost a couple of pucks tonight I probably don’t usually lose and could create more.”
Kane has had a goal or assist in six of the last seven games, but he’s not trying to do it all himself. As good as he is, the Hawks only can go so far relying on him.
“I just feel like this year I’m not going into games feeling pressure that I have to do too much,” he said. “Team is going to be competitive, guys are going to have good shifts, make good plays and work hard for the team. It’s a good team mindset right now.”
4. Ian Mitchell and Nicolas Beaudin celebrate firsts together.
Mitchell and Beaudin scored their first-career goals 56 seconds apart to start the second period. It’s a promising sign and important milestone for both rookies.
“Just happy to tie the game up and getting that first one is special too,” Mitchell said of his goal. “I wish we could’ve pulled out the game but, yeah, just joy and relief.”
The offensive-minded defenseman had to wait until his 15th game to get his first goal, a tap-in off David Kampf’s pass.
“I wanted the puck from Kampy pretty bad, so he did a good job getting it to me,” he said.
Added Beaudin: “I was really happy for (Mitchell), everyone was happy. Next shift, I score, so it was kind of funny we scored one after the other.”
Beaudin scored off a back-wall bounce when Zadorov’s shot went wide.
5. The Hawks played with heavy hearts after news of Andrew Shaw’s latest concussion.
Shaw was placed on injured reserve before the game after entering the concussion protocol. He’s had a long history with concussions and missed most of last season with lingering symptoms.
“Shawzy’s such a good guy, he brings so much on the ice for us and in the room,” Beaudin said. “We all wish him health as quick as possible because he’s a huge part of this group.”
Added Kane: “It’s a tough situation. Playing some really good hockey for us. Always a fun guy to have around the locker room and in the lineup because of how hard he works and the energy he brings.
“Hope for the best for him. We’ll reach out and talk to him and see him around the rink. Hopefully it’s a fast recovery.”
Colliton called the development “very disappointing” before the game, but afterward he rejected the notion that the news might have affected the team’s play.
“I don’t think that’s an excuse at all,” Colliton said. “You have to separate the two.”
Here is more game coverage.
The Chicago Blackhawks gave up four third-period goals Thursday, including two in the final three minutes, and lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-5 at the United Center to snap their winning streak at three games.
The Blue Jackets’ Michael Del Zotto tied it at 5 with 2 minutes, 41 seconds left, then Kevin Stenlund scored the winner with 1:14 remaining to snap the Hawks’ points streak at five games. The Blue Jackets outshot the Hawks 43-26.
The collapse spoiled the first career goals from Ian Mitchell and Nicolas Beaudin, who scored 56 seconds part in the opening 1:17 of the second period. Fellow rookie Pius Suter scored his sixth of the season at 13:30 of the second for a 3-1 Hawks lead.
“We’ve just gotta learn how to close out those games, you know?” Hawks forward Patrick Kane said. “We talked about it earlier, we’re young, we can learn from these situations. I just feel like going into every game, with our work ethic, we’ll be in every game.”
After Jack Roslovic cut the Blue Jackets’ deficit to 1 with a power-play goal with two minutes left in the second, Kane extended the Hawks’ lead to 4-2 with a power-play goal only 29 seconds in to the third. The Blue Jackets’ Boone Jenner and Roslovic went back-to-back to tie it with 12:01 left.
After Alex DeBrincat scored his seventh of the season to give the Hawks a 5-4 lead with 6:55 to play, Michael Del Zotto tied it with 2:41 remaining, then Kevin Stenlund scored the winner with only 1:14 left.
Kane added two assists and has a team-high 20 points on the season. DeBrincat also had two assists.
Mitchell scored 21 seconds into the second period, the rookie’s first NHL goal and second point in 15 games with the Hawks.
Matthew Highmore dished to David Kampf as he was racing out of the defensive end, and Kampf maneuvered up the ice with three defenders on him as Mitchell came up the back side. Just as Kampf arrived at the crease, he slapped it over to Mitchell as he stood waiting.
Mitchell poked it in, then raised his arms and flashed a big smile.
Then at the 1:17 mark, it was another rookie’s turn to celebrate.
Beaudin, playing his seventh career game, took advantage of Nikita Zadorov misfire wide that bounced off the back wall and right to himself. Beaudin scooped it top shelf over Joonas Korpisalo and pumped his fist.
Of course, the mood after the game was not what the Hawks would have preferred.
“Just kind of a bad feeling in all our stomachs, Mitchell said. “One kind of got away from us. We’ve got to learn from it and try not to let it happen again. … We’re still learning. It still sucks, though.”