Recap: Blackhawks blasted in Pittsburgh

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First period

The Blackhawks started off strong in this game. It took until 10 minutes into the game, but the Blackhawks would strike first. Ryan Greene had a beautiful pass to find a wide-open Connor Murphy. He buried a wrister to the top corner to put the Blackhawks up 1-0.

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Just under two minutes later, the Penguins would answer, although they shouldn’t have. After a missed tripping call in the corner, the puck found its way to the front of the net, with Connor Dewar potting his 12th of the season to knot things up 1-1. The period would end with the score all knotted up, but with the Blackhawks leading play.

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Second period

The first five minutes of the period were uneventful. The Blackhawks and Penguins traded opportunities, but neither club was able to get the puck to the back of the net. The Penguins broke the stalemate after a long period of holding the puck in the Blackhawks defensive zone. Artyom Levshunov failed to clear the puck, leading to a turnover to Anthony Mantha. He found Ben Kindel, who buried his shot, putting the Penguins up 2-1. Ten minutes later, the Penguins would strike again. Evgeni Malkin found Egor Chinakov, who went right through the Blackhawks’ defense, and put the puck five hole on Soderblom, 3-1 Pittsburgh. Thirty one seconds later, Mantha would score. After some great passing from the Penguins, Kindel found a streaking Mantha, who backhanded the puck five hole on Soderblom, 4-1.

That wouldn’t even be all of it, as with half a minute to go, the Penguins got another on the board. On another non-stop offensive zone possession, the Penguins just kept the puck moving. After a few attempts right in front, the puck found its way back to Ryan Shea. He buried the slap shot past Soderblom, 5-1 Penguins. Luckily, time would run out on this ugliness and that is how the period would end.

Third period

The third period calmed down significantly, but was still ugly. The Blackhawks had five shots on goal to the Penguins’ 13. The Penguins got another goal on the board first, with Dewar getting his second of the game on a stuff shot in front, making it 6-1 Pittsburgh. The Blackhawks would get one back just 30 seconds later though. Connor Bedard had a beautiful goal to beat Arturs Silovs right over the glove to make it a 6-2 game.

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That would be how the game would finish, with the Penguins dominating in this 6-2 game.

Analysis

This game certainly wasn’t going to change the Blackhawks’ recent losing streak. Some bad miscues, coupled with the inability to clear the puck led to plenty of chances for the Penguins to get the puck into the back of the net. The Blackhawks were dominated in every statistical category in this game. Faceoffs, shots, hits, takeaways, you name it, the Blackhawks were worse. The pairing of Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser should not stay together after this one, as a -5 is evident of some extremely poor play from that pairing. I don’t think Soderblom has played great in many games this season, but this is one that you cannot blame him for at all, as he was peppered with shots all game long and still managed to keep a good amount out.

The Blackhawks will look to snap their losing streak on Friday night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. That game will be at 7:30 p.m. CST on CHSN and NHL Network.