Game Recap: Blackhawks 2 - Jets 4
Sorensen and the Blackhawks lose 2-4 against the Jets at home.
Oh boy. That was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Anders Sorensen used some small tactical adjustments in his first NHL game as head coach. Look, this team isn't going to change overnight. What we got on Saturday afternoon is the same hockey Blackhawks fans are used to. Veteran players made mistakes that led to goals against. Offense was seriously lacking. Getting hemmed in the DZ for long periods of time. Expecting this team to look different after one practice is foolish.
Let's get right into it.
Let's get the most positive thing out of the way first. Alex Vlasic scored his 2nd goal of the season while on the powerplay. Vlasic's goal also came off of his slapshot which he had been working on over the summer. Beyond this great note, Vlasic also made some awesome plays and stole the puck. Natural Stat Trick doesn't have him credited with any takeaways but I know I saw at least 2. His fancy stats look horrid (37.93 Corsi, 12.90 xG%) but the eye test says otherwise
Sorensen employed a 2-1-2 forecheck to get this team going offensively. That is a step in the right direction. The players need to get used to this and it'll take some time. This has the players more aggressive in the NZ, which can be dangerous if you turn the puck over. At the same time, Sorensen's idea is to limit the other team from dumping the puck in and prevent the Hawks from being stuck in the DZ.
2-1-2 Neutral Zone Forecheck: Used when a more offensive approach is needed. Aggressive and is essentially a man-on-man in the NZ.
Goaltending is about to become interesting. The first goal for the Jets was a redirect that Arvid Soderblom couldn't be blamed for not stopping. Soderblom would finish the afternoon stopping 21 of 24 and a .875 SV%. He gave up a few more rebounds that I'd rather not see, an issue he struggled with last season. With Petr Mrazek's groin clocking out, the Hawks are about to have a very interesting look in net.
With only 14 shots on goal, this was the lowest shot total all season. The next highest was 19 shots, as Scott Powers pointed out.
It's going to take more than one game to see a lot of changes, but one noticeable change the d activating on the rush. Alec Martinez scored a nice goal after getting involved in the rush.
The Jets' second goal was the result of some poor defensive positioning. Nino Niederretier was able to take advantage of some wide-open space and score. That's on TJ Brodie who left his assignment to play the puck down low. Brodie cannot leave the front of the net like that while his d-partner (Wyatt Kaiser) is already below the goal line. SHAME.
For the Jets game-winning goal, the Hawks had some poor positioning off the draw which allowed Mark Scheifele open space to score. Watching the replay you can see Vlasic play the body when he maybe could have moved over on the left side. Or Connor Murphy, who was puck watching, could have noticed that his partner was preoccupied and cover that open space.
What on earth was Tyler Bertuzzi thinking with this play? What a waste of a beautiful entry.
Connor Bedard's stats don't look great, and that's because of his matchups. At 5v5, Connor had a 27.27 Corsi, a 10.37 xG% (that's really bad), 0 shots on goal, and 1 shot attempt. Bedard was pushed to the perimeter a lot in this one. There was also this bad turnover that Bedard did at the blueline, something we saw a lot of last season. Really have to hope Bedard gets going again soon and I'm tired of feeling that way.
You have to think that this is the time to break away from the Philipp Kurashev-Bedard connection because it's just not happening. The Kurashev-Bedard-Teuvo line had a 26.67 Corsi and a 5.39 xG%. The problem was that Bedard's line was matched up against the Jets' checking line most of the game, which is one of the best in the league. The result was Bedard's line spending an awful lot of time stuck in their zone.
The job for Sorensen isn't going to be fair to him, like Richardson before him. He has a roster that's supposed to make this team more competitive but instead, we get veterans who make questionable plays. Offense needs to get going, and more importantly, Bedard needs to take more shots. Both of those statements are going to be staples of this season.
The Hawks play the Rangers Monday night at 6PM CT. It's time to snap this losing streak,