Oliver Moore providing good response after healthy scratch

Things might feel bleak in the Chicago Blackhawks' world as they sit 4-9-0 on the season.

But over a long season, it's all about how you bounce back, and there have been some bright spots despite the record.

One of the players is Oliver Moore.

How Moore has bounced back

Moore is one of the young, speedy pieces that is a big part of the Blackhawks. So much so that general manager Kyle Davidson gave him a five-year, $21.5M contract extension in September.

He is one of those forwards that can play up and down the lineup, but he has mainly been playing a third-line role.

But when Andrew Mangiapane came back from injury, Moore found himself a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks game against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 25. At the time, he had three points in seven games.

Moore is 21 years old, and with it being his second full NHL season, he is nowhere near a finished product yet.

But in the two games since coming back to the lineup, he has made his presence felt. Against the LA Kings on Oct. 27, Blashill opted to split Connor Bedard and Patrick Kane on the top line and instead paired Kane with Moore and Frank Nazar.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the numbers show that line had a dynamite night. Their corsi-for and against was 17-5, their shots for and against were 10-1, and they had a goal-for and none against. The goal was from defenseman Wyatt Kaiser's game-winning goal in the third period. Even though Moore didn't assist on the goal, he was still a plus-1 on the night.

Kane said on what he saw from Moore after his scratch, "I thought Mango (Mangiapane) was great last game. I think we got to acknowledge that, for sure. He was probably one of our best forwards, if not our best forward. And Mooresy comes back in. I thought he was one of our best forwards tonight, too. So I mean, there's a lot of depth through the lineup, and Mooresy is one of those guys, I think, especially before the season, that jumps out at you with his speed and his skill and his potential, and he's still such a young player. I think once he kind of learns the ins and outs of playing the game and just kind of where he fits in the lineup; I know it's tough when you're that young, and you're kind of all around the lineup, and you get a different role. But, yeah, he's got a lot of potential, and I thought he was great tonight. He was flying."

Then came the Blackhawks game against the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 29. Even though it was a bad loss, one stat that my colleague Gail Kauchak highlighted was that he won 89 percent of his faceoffs, going 8-1 in the dot in 11:41 minutes of ice time.

He doesn't have a point in the two games, but seeing those numbers, especially on faceoffs for a team struggling at the dot, was something notable.

Moore has usually always thrived at the "little things," like speed and creating space, and if he keeps it up, more good can come of it.

Blashill said after the Kings game on Oct. 27 about what he saw from Moore response coming back from his scratch, "It was good, but I didn't expect anything less. Like he actually was playing good hockey. I felt it was a moment where him and our team just needed to learn to make sure we learn these lessons and not beating ourselves. But he's played good hockey. So it's not like he went through a stretch where he hadn't been playing well. I thought he stepped right back in and did a good job. And the credit I give to Oliver... every time I talk to anybody that's been around him, they always rave about him. Because he's that kind of person who's one: he's just so self-accountable, and yet I think has enough confidence and he's super comfortable in his own skin, too. So he can kind of shake that stuff off and go back at it. And I thought it was a good step for him."