Blackhawks Lose 5-1 to the Dallas Stars at a Packed United Center

• Robertson (8), Benn (16), Heiskanen (12): I won't spend too much time on this one, I go more into depth on Tyler Bertuzzi's ejection below. 12 seconds into the power play, Jason Robertson let go of a nice wrist shot past Soderblom.
• Dadonov (10), Duchene (18), Robertson (17): The Stars took advantage of another bad line change. By the time the Stars got the puck to the blue line, Bedard was back checking two forwards and Frank Nazar was just getting on the ice. Jones made a poor read and pinched up but there was no third forward to recover (ideally, Nazar is already there). It was suddenly a three-on-one against Nolan Allan. Matt Duchene (DAL 95) passed across the slot to Dadonov who scored. 

• Johnston (8), Duchene (19), Benn (17): The third period began with Bedard losing the face off. Jones pinched in the neutral zone and Bedard was there to cover his spot. Bedard broke up the first scoring chance but Wyatt Johnston scored anyway.
  Jones wasn't wrong for pressuring the puck carrier. Bedard was there to cover his position. Brodie could have done more to prevent that from going in.
• Duchene (14), Johnston (16), Heiskanen (13): Bedard lost the draw and the Stars airmailed the puck into the neutral zone. Duchene carried the puck into the zone, drew three Hawks defenders, and slowed the play down to get back up and score on a rebound. It's an excellent example of how to manipulate space to your advantage.

Thoughts

Stats are from Natural Stat Trick. Click here for a glossary of terms and definitions. 

• This was pretty reminiscent of the Luke Richardson days, reinforcing my thoughts that this is more of a roster construction issue than it is coaching.
• One of my "hot" takes is that Jones is a good defenseman. His price tag attracts a lot of harsh criticism. Ever since Jones' return, he hasn't helped my case. As of late, his defensive game hasn't been the best. Last night he had a .73 expected goals against, which isn't great.
• Now that the Ilya Mikheyev-Teravainen love connection has cooled off a bit, can we get Teravainen up there with Bedard now on the top line? Turbo's on-ice numbers were a 72.73 Corsi and a 75.76 expected goals share (xG%). 
• Bedard didn't have his greatest game. He had a 33.33 Corsi at 5v5 and a 31.71 xG%. His individual stats were two shots on goal, two shot attempts, and one goal. 
• If you are confused as to why Bertuzzi was ejected from the game, Rule 45 gives you the logic behind the refs decision. Essentially, a major penalty must be imposed if the infraction causes an injury (which Blackwell looked hurt after the play) and a game misconduct if the injury is to the face or head. 

The Hawks are now on a four game-losing streak. With the Winter Classic on Tuesday, it'll be interesting to see what moves Anders Sorensen makes within the lineup. He's been pretty consistent with his lines, even after losses. But something has to give eventually. TJ Brodie, I have terrible seats to the Winter Classic. One of them has your name on it.