The Blackhawks‘ three-game winning streak ended Saturday, but their increased offensive potency under interim coach Anders Sorensen did not disappear.
The Hawks mounted an admirable third-period rally in a 6-4 loss to the Flames, cutting a four-goal deficit to one in time for a last-gasp shift in the offensive zone before an empty-net marker sealed their fate.
Connor Bedard, who finished with three points, set up two Tyler Bertuzzi tap-ins and then red-hot Ilya Mikheyev banged in a rebound with 1:08 left. It’s the second time in two weeks under Sorensen that the Hawks have cut a 5-1 deficit to 5-4, having also done so Dec. 12 against the Islanders.
The Hawks’ most impressive team stat from this generally vexing season remained alive, too. They’ve now been leading, tied or within one goal at some point in the third period in 33 of 34 games.
They were sloppy, however, while digging such a deep hole. The flip side of Sorensen’s offense-oriented system changes is that neutral-zone turnovers are now more likely to create odd-man rushes against, and that was the case Saturday.
“We made too many mistakes that shouldn’t be made, and those are going to end up in your net,” Bedard told reporters in Calgary.
“We know we’re not going to quit or feel like the game’s over. We went into that third feeling like we had a chance. That’s the frustrating part, how much better we played in that period. If we played that way throughout the game, we probably win.”
Goalie Petr Mrazek produced a mixed bag of results in his return after missing a couple weeks due to a full bag of problems (a minor groin injury, the flu and a family health issue). He made a miraculous stick save early but conceded several softer goals later.
The Flames’ power play went 1-for-5, snapping the Hawks’ streak of 33 consecutive penalty kills. The one opportunity they converted probably shouldn’t have been an opportunity at all, though.
Flames forward Martin Pospisil delivered hits to the heads of both Bedard and Frank Nazar but wasn’t penalized on either occasion; Ryan Donato was sent to the box instead for fighting Pospisil after the Nazar incident. Pospisil and Bertuzzi were ultimately both ejected after a scrum in the final minutes.
Jones returns, too
Veteran defenseman Seth Jones, like Mrazek, was also rusty in his return to the lineup after missing 16 games.
He logged a team-high 26:42 of ice time but committed a turnover that led to a Flames shorthanded goal. Sorensen put Alex Vlasic, who improved his power-play quarterbacking skills during Jones’ absence, back atop the first unit after that.
Jones said Friday he played through a broken bone in his foot Nov. 14 in Seattle thanks to adrenaline, but he had a feeling after the game it was a significant injury. When it hadn’t improved much after 3.5 weeks, he was getting frustrated — and worried about missing the Winter Classic — but it finally got over the hump the last 10 days or so.
Fact check
Some Hawks fans on social media Saturday insisted the Hawks would be better off without Jones, but that’s empirically incorrect. Since the start of 2022-23, the Hawks have a .354 points percentage with Jones in the lineup (going 50-96-11) compared to a .333 points percentage without him (going 11-24-4).
They’ve also scored 43.3% of the goals during five-on-five play with Jones on the ice (outscored 136-104) compared to 37.3% of the goals without Jones (outscored 347-206).