The setup probably wasn’t what the Blackhawks envisioned in the offseason.
With the Hawks on a five-on-three power play in the second period, forward Connor Bedard snapped a pass to his right to veteran Teuvo Teravainen, who scored his seventh goal of the season and first since Nov. 27 against Dallas.
When the Blackhawks brought back Teravainen, they saw him as a veteran forward who could help accentuate Bedard’s game. Teravainen’s defensive prowess was meant to cover for some of Bedard’s deficiencies in that area, while the Finnish forward also possessed the vision to allow Bedard to use his lightning-quick shot.
But throughout the majority of the season, that plan didn’t come to fruition as Teravainen struggled offensively — the veteran forward has been held scoreless 21 times in 31 games.
But in Sunday’s 5-3 win against the Islanders, Teravainen’s impact was felt in a big way. He had two first-period assists — including an impressive pass through traffic to find forward Ilya Mikheyev for the first goal of the game.
“He was really good tonight, so hopefully he can build off this,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “We all know that he’s better than he’s played, and he knows that, and we’ve had conversations about that. so, really good response from him tonight.”
Though he’s not playing on a line with Bedard, the Hawks still need more from Teravainen, who they signed to a three-year, $16 million contract in the offseason.
“It’s good whenever you can help the team win the game,” Teravainen said. “The puck was bouncing pretty good for me and my line today. Good effort by our line.”
Shutdown penalty kill
The Islanders were 0-for-4 on the power play. A strong penalty kill was a hallmark of Richardson’s tenure, but it’s clear that the core tenets he instilled in the Hawks still remain.
“[Assistant coach Kevin Dean’s] done a great job,” Sorensen said. “He’s very direct, and he lets them know exactly what we’re looking for and what the other team’s looking for.”
Defenseman Alex Vlasic also lauded the team’s ability to learn opposing teams’ power-play tendencies and prevent them from scoring. He was weary of propping up the potency of the penalty kill.
“I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think we’re … playing well,” Vlasic said. “We’re paying attention to what we’re learning about the other team’s power play and what they try to look for. We’re bearing down on the chances we get to clear the puck down the ice and just making sure that everyone’s fresh and going 100%.”
Injury update
Defenseman Seth Jones has been on injured reserve since Nov. 16 after injuring his right foot in the Hawks’ Nov. 14 game against the Kraken after blocking a shot.
Sorensen said Jones has been progressing and that the veteran defenseman was on the ice before Sunday’s game against the Islanders, but that it was “going to be a little bit longer here” in terms of his return from injury.
Goalie Petr Mrazek could be on the ice Monday as he recovers from a groin injury, which he’s dealt with multiple times throughout his career. Before his injury, Mrazek was amid a solid season, sporting his lowest goals-against average since 2019-20.
