3 Takeaways From the Blackhawks’ 4-0 Shutout Loss to the Blue Jackets – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

What Kaiser has done so far this campaign is extremely impressive. After missing time due to a contract disagreement and signing a two-year extension, he has made a huge impact. Kaiser, at only 23 years old, took over a veteran role and paired with Artyom Levshunov, helping him make the transition into the league. All the while he was doing that, he was learning and adapting himself, having come into the season late. 

Now, he was doing the same thing with Sam Rinzel, who came in for Levshunov after he was scratched, up until his injury. Kaiser is such a valuable piece to the Blackhawks and will continue to be in the future. Depending on the severity, that will be a huge loss for the time being. First Connor Bedard, then Frank Nazar, and when they both come back, Kaiser goes down. Colton Dach was also ruled out of the game early after he got hurt in the second period. It’s been a tough season for the Blackhawks in terms of injuries. 

Last Game Before the Olympic Break

Last night against the Blue Jackets was the final game before the long 22-day break for the Olympics, and the Blackhawks desperately need it. They have a bunch of young guns, such as Oliver Moore, Levshunov, Ryan Greene, and more, who aren’t used to the full 82-game schedule. 

Levshunov and Greene were just recently scratched from the lineup because of their skid lately. Putting Greene in the press box was questionable, but Levshunov was justified. They both have just run out of gas in the weeks leading up to the break, and their play has taken a hit. Moore, while he was not benched, has slowed down a bit as well from the level he was playing at to start the season and what had earned him a full-time roster spot. 

Related: Blackhawks Fans Need to Be Patient With Levshunov

In the last 40 days, the Blackhawks have played 21 games. When the kids were playing in the minors, that never happened. Even in the American Hockey League (AHL), teams play two or three games per week. You can prepare for it all you want, but in the end, it’s going to catch up to you at some point. The three-week break will give them time to pull themselves back together for the remaining 25 contests in the season.

A Sloppy Game 

The Blackhawks started off the game putting pressure on Jet Greaves, but after that, not much else went their way — especially the puck luck. The first goal was as unfortunate as it gets; Werenski, who has 20 goals this season, fired the puck, and it bounced off Kaiser, deflected off Alex Vlasic, and went into the net. 

After that goal, the last two scores by the Blue Jackets were preventable. On the play to make it a two-goal game in favor of the Blue Jackets, Ryan Donato took an odd hit into the boards. He was upset about the non-call, went up the ice, and laid a huge hit on Mason Marchment. Afterwards, though, he went for a line change and left a 5-on-4 chance. The poor line changes continued throughout the rest of the night, leaving Spencer Knight on an island.

The third goal was the same story from the entire season so far: failure to break the puck out of the zone. On the empty net chance, the Blackhawks were moving the puck well, but then Tyler Bertuzzi got pick-pocketed, and the Blue Jackets iced it.

The power play also found itself in another standstill, with the Blackhawks going 0-for-2. They had some chances, but none of them were solid enough to oppose a real threat. When they win the faceoff, they’re in good shape; however, when they lose it, the opposition has no issue in clearing it, and then the Blackhawks have a tough time getting the power play set back up. 

Overall, it seemed like the Blackhawks came into this game and took the night off. The fact that they led in shots on goal doesn’t reflect the effort they put into this contest. The Blackhawks need to wind down, reset, and come back with some fresh legs.