You could look at the Chicago Blackhawks’ 3-0 loss Monday night to the Colorado Avalanche — their first time getting shut out this season — several ways:
- The Hawks contained the high-flying Avs for all but a three-minute lapse in the third period, when Colorado put up two goals.
- The Hawks ran with the Avs until the gas gauge hit “E,” and then they refueled for the final stretch.
- The Hawks caught goalie Scott Wedgewood on a night when he was simply unbeatable.
Or maybe it was a combination of the three.
“If you can say that a loss is encouraging, I guess, yeah, it was,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “We did a lot of good things. I thought both goalies were good — ours was good too — but came up a little short, unfortunately.”
Wedgewood stole some of the spotlight in Denver, but it also was a night in which Avs star Nathan MacKinnon reached 1,000 career points and Hawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, made his much-anticipated NHL debut.
“Step by step I was getting more confident,” Levshunov said. “I tried to play simple, I tried to play hard.”
The game started with a bit of controversy.
Martin Nečas appeared to put the Avalanche up 1-0, but the Hawks challenged and the forward was ruled offside. The overturned goal took away what would’ve been MacKinnon’s 1,000th point.
Later in the first period, Connor Bedard looked to break the scoreless tie, but he instead provided the first of several highlight saves for Wedgewood, who stuck his pad in the air while lying on his back.
Wedgewood also made a beauty of a glove save on Nick Foligno in the second period, and the Avs goalie wasn’t done. In the third, he thwarted Frank Nazar’s breakaway backhander, then dove head first — without a stick — to stymie Tyler Bertuzzi’s short-range one-timer set up by Joe Veleno.
MacKinnon finally secured his milestone point with the secondary assist on Artturi Lehkonen’s goal 31 seconds into the third period. He notched another helper 2 minutes, 56 seconds later on another connection with Nečas — no overturning that blast from the slot.
Spencer Knight had 18 saves on 20 shots in his third start for the Hawks and his first loss. Dating to Feb. 2 with the Florida Panthers, he entered Monday’s game with a five-game winning streak.
Hawks defenseman Alec Martinez left the game with 10:43 left in the first. Sorensen said Martinez is day to day.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. Artyom Levshunov couldn’t have asked for a better debut.
Well, other than recording a goal or an assist — but that’s gravy for the young defenseman.
Levshunov was going against one of the fastest teams in the league in the Avalanche, so you didn’t want him to get over his skis by taking risks on offense. But the moment was never too big for the rookie.
When he did take shots, his heavy shot was on display.
If there was a quibble, Levshunov could have been quicker with his shoot-or-pass decisions on the power play, which included a five-on-three.
“I wish I would’ve scored a couple of times,” he said. “It was a good opportunity, good chances. But, yeah, next time.”
Sorensen said Levshunov had good gaps, and the coach was otherwise glowing in his assessment.
“First NHL game was good,” he said. “Some of the offensive stuff we talked about, defended well, I thought he was assertive and good first step.”
2. Nick Foligno took his best shots after the game.
This season will be remembered for Seth Jones saying the Hawks “haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows,” shortly before the Hawks granted Jones’ trade request and shipped him to Florida.
It also will be remembered for Foligno’s return volley.
“There’s a cohesiveness with the group,” Foligno said. “We’ve gotten rid of some distractions, so to speak, and now there’s just a group that’s trying to get better.
“Sometimes when you make hard decisions they end up benefiting the group, and I think you’re seeing that. Guys are playing together, they’re playing for one another, they’re playing to grow something here. They’re not worried about what’s gone on or what guys are feeling. It’s everyone that’s pulling on the same rope.
“It’s encouraging. You see the young guys stepping in that have done the job, and even the older guys that have accepted some of the roles that they’ve played. It’s a team coming together.”
Underlying those comments is that the Hawks have gotten better as the young players have started to take over.
It’s the first- and second-year Hawks — Bedard, Nazar, Ethan Del Mastro, Colton Dach, Landon Slaggert and Wyatt Kaiser — who are jumping off the screen, along with some slightly older veterans such as Ryan Donato and Alex Vlasic.
That’s not to diminish the Folignos and Jason Dickinsons, but at some point the kids — the future core — can’t just be learning, they need to be leading.
3. Mask on, mask off for Spencer Knight.
The Hawks goalie got a little chin music from Miles Wood’s stick as the Avs forward plowed into Knight for an interference penalty. You could see the momentary pain in Knight’s face because the forceful collision knocked his mask back.
His Panthers mask. Yes, Knight still is trotting out there with his former team’s mask (he was acquired March 1).
Knight said before he embarked on the road trip that a Hawks-themed helmet is done, it just had to be shipped. But when, he didn’t know. In fact, he doesn’t know much else about it.
“I just told the painter (Dave Gunnarsson), ‘Just come up with a design,’” he told the Tribune. “I don’t really know what it looks like. Just get it here as fast as you can. I’ll go into the small details next year.”
4. Refs ‘air’ on the side of caution with an offside call.
The NHL can be as generous with offside violations as the NBA is with traveling (OK, maybe not quite that generous).
Skaters don’t have to make contact with the blue line as the puck is crossing. They get the benefit of the doubt if their skate is even hovering over the line.
After the Hawks challenged Nečas’ goal, the referees took a long time deliberating before determining that the Avs forward strayed a hair too far before the puck crossed the line.
The way the Hawks’ luck has gone with challenges this season, they probably expected bad news. But for the first time, the Hawks won an offside ruling this season in their third such challenge.
It’s the second time Sorensen won a challenge in six attempts. The other time was for an interference call Dec. 23 against the Minnesota Wild. Overall, the Hawks have won three of eight challenges this season.
5. Ryan Donato nearly had the most entertaining assist of the season.
Early in the first period, Donato was on his knees in the neutral zone after losing a skate, but he managed to backhand a pass to Bedard as he raced into the Avs zone. Wedgewood stopped Bedard’s shot, but props to Donato for sticking with the play before scooting off the ice.
The bigger question: Why are Donato’s skate blades popping off in recent games? Remember the Feb. 1 game against the Panthers in Florida when a referee helped push him toward the bench?
“That’s like, what, three times in the last two games?” Sorensen said with a laugh. “I don’t know. That’s not a me question.”
Despite a 3-0 loss for the Chicago Blackhawks — their first shutout — the game seemed to confirm a turning point for the takeover of the team by its young core.
You could look at the Chicago Blackhawks’ 3-0 loss on Monday night to the Colorado Avalanche – their first time getting shut out this season – several ways:
- The Hawks contained the high-flying Avs for all but a three-minute lapse in the third period when Colorado put up two goals
- The Hawks ran with the Avs until the gas gauge hit “E,” and then they refueled for the final stretch
- The Hawks caught goalie Scott Wedgewood on a night in which he was simply unbeatable
Or maybe it’s a combination of the three.
“If you can say that a loss is encouraging, I guess, yeah, it was,” Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “We did a lot of good things. I thought both goalies were good – ours was good too – but came up a little short, unfortunately.”
Wedgewood stole some of the spotlight in Denver, but it also was a night in which Avs star Nathan MacKinnon reached 1,000 career points and Hawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov, the No. 2 pick in the last draft, made his much-anticipated NHL debut.
“Step-by-step I was getting more confident,” Levshunov said. “I tried to play simple, I tried to play hard.”
The game started with a bit of controversy.
Martin Nečas appeared to put the Avalanche up 1-0, but the Hawks challenged and the forward was ruled offside. The overturned goal took away what would’ve been MacKinnon’s 1,000th point.
Later in the first, Connor Bedard looked to break the scoreless tie, but he just provided the first of several highlight saves for Wedgewood, who stuck his pad in the air while lying on his back.
Wedgewood also made a beauty of a glove save on Nick Foligno in the second, and the Avs goalie wasn’t done.
In the third period, he thwarted Frank Nazar’s breakaway backhander, then he dove head-first – without a stick – to stymie Tyler Bertuzzi short-range one-timer set up by Joe Veleno.
MacKinnon finally secured his milestone point when Artturi Lehkonen scored 31 seconds into the third, and he had the secondary assist. Two minutes, 56 seconds later, MacKinnon notched another helper on another Nečas connection – no overturning that blast from the slot.
Spencer Knight had 18 saves on 20 shots in his third start for the Hawks, but his first loss. Dating back to Feb. 2 with the Florida Panthers, he had a five-game winning streak entering Monday’s matchup.
Hawks’ Alec Martinez left the game with 10 minutes, 43 seconds left in the first. Sorensen said the defenseman is day to day.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. Levshunov couldn’t ask for a better debut.
Well, other than scoring a goal or an assist – but that’s gravy for the young defenseman.
Levshunov was going against one of the fastest teams in the business in the Avalanche, so you didn’t want him to get in over his skis by taking risks on offense. But the moment was never too big for the rookie.
When he did take shots, his heavy shot was on display.
If there was a quibble, Levshunov could have been quicker with his shoot-or-pass decisions on the power play, which included a five-on-three.
“I wish I would’ve scored a couple of times,” Levshunov said. “It was a good opportunity, good chances. But, yeah, next time.”
Sorensen said Levshunov had good gaps and the coach was otherwise glowing in his assessment of the defenseman.
“First NHL game was good,” he said. “Some of the offensive stuff we talked about, defended well, I thought he was assertive and good first step.”
2. Foligno took his best shots off after the game.
This season will be remembered for Seth Jones saying the Hawks “haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows,” shortly before the Hawks granted his trade request and shipped him to Florida.
It also will be remembered for Foligno’s return volley.
“There’s a cohesiveness with the group,” Foligno said. “We’ve gotten rid of some distractions, so to speak, and now there’s just a group that’s trying to get better.
“Sometimes when you make hard decisions they end up benefiting the group, and I think you’re seeing that. Guys are playing together, they’re playing one for another, they’re playing to grow something here. They’re not worried about what’s gone on or what guys are feeling, it’s everyone that’s pulling on the same rope.”
Foligno added, “It’s encouraging, you see the young guys stepping in that have done the job, and even the older guys that have accepted some of the roles that they’ve played.
“It’s a team coming together.”
Underlying those comments is that the Hawks have gotten better as the young players have started to take over.
It’s the first- or second-year Hawks – Bedard, Nazar, Ethan Del Mastro, Colton Dach, Landon Slaggert and Wyatt Kaiser – who are jumping off the screen, along with some slightly older veterans such as Ryan Donato and Alex Vlasic.
That’s not to diminish the Folignos and Jason Dickinsons, but at some point the kids – the future core – can’t just be learning, they need to be leading.
3. Mask on, mask off for Spencer Knight.
The Hawks goalie got a little chin music from Miles Wood’s stick, as the Avs forward plowed into Knight for an interference penalty. You could see the momentary pain in Knight’s face because the forceful collision knocked his mask back.
His Florida Panthers mask. Yes, Knight’s still trotting out there with his former team’s mask (he was acquired March 1.)
Knight said before he embarked on the road trip that a Hawks-themed helmet is done, it just had to be shipped. But when, he didn’t know. In fact, he doesn’t really even know much else about it.
“I just told the painter (Dave Gunnarsson), I was like, ‘Just come up with a design,’” he told the Tribune. “I don’t really know what it looks like. Just get it here as fast as you can.
“I’ll go into the small details next year.”
4. Refs ‘air’ on the side of caution with an offside call.
The NHL can be as generous with offside violations as the NBA is with traveling (OK, maybe not quite that generous).
Skaters don’t have to make contact with the blue line as the puck is crossing, they get the benefit of the doubt if their skate is even hovering over the line.
After the Hawks challenged Nečas’ goal, the referees took a long time deliberating before determining that the Avs forward strayed a hair too far before the puck crossed the line.
The way the Hawks’ luck has gone with challenges this season, they probably expected bad news. But for the first time, the Hawks won an offside ruling this season in their third such challenge.
It’s the second time Sorensen won a challenge out of six attempts. The other time was for an interference call on Dec. 23 against the Minnesota Wild. Overall, the Hawks have won three of eight challenges.
5. Donato nearly had the most entertaining assist of the season.
Early in the first period, Donato was on his knees in the neutral zone after losing a skate, but he managed to backhand a pass to Bedard as he raced into the Avs zone.
Wedgewood stopped Bedard’s shot, but props to Donato for sticking with the play before scooting off the ice.
But the bigger question is: why are Donato’s skate blades popping off in recent games?
Remember the Feb. 1 game against the Panthers in Florida, a referee helped him push him toward the bench?
Sorensen laughed, “That’s like, what, three times in the last two games? I don’t know, that’s not a me question.”
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