Hawks leaning on Mrazek but still lose to Vancouver
Ask a coach about any promising, young player in the preseason and we often get glowing remarks.
So you take them with a big grain of salt.
Still, the way Blackhawks goaltending coach Jimmy Waite raved about Arvid Soderblom it sounded like the second coming of Corey Crawford was on the way.
Waite said Soderblom had the 'it factor' he looks for in goalies and compared him to Nashville's Juuse Saros.
“He has a nice presence in net,” Waite said. “He's big. I like his body language, how aggressive he is. There's a few things to work on that I'll keep to myself, but we're really excited about him.”
But things aren't working out the way the Hawks had hoped. Instead, Petr Mrazek has put a vice grip on No. 1 spot. The veteran earned a fifth straight start Tuesday and made 34 saves in a 4-2 loss to Vancouver at the United Center.
Mrazek did his best to keep the Canucks — who own the league's best points percentage at .722 — at bay, but the Hawks continue to have a difficult time generating any offense. It took 19 minutes, 29 seconds for them to generate their first shot on goal, and they managed just 23 overall.
Tyler Johnson did draw the Hawks within 2-1 at 16:43 of the second period with a power-play goal, and Colin Blackwell nearly tied it at 18:16, but his backhand shot off a rush hit the crossbar.
Twelve seconds later, Nils Hoglander gave the Canucks (36-12-6) a 3-1 lead.
Vancouver (36-12-6) now has 199 goals, second behind only Colorado's 200. The Hawks (14-36-3) have been outscored 22-7 during their seven-game losing streak.
“We've been proud on how the guys have worked over the last month, but not tonight. That wasn't the same effort,” said Hawks coach Luke Richardson. “They really showed where they are in the standings and showed us where we are. So that’s nothing to be proud of tonight, the way we played. Other than Petr.”
With 35 starts, Mrazek needs just 4 to pass his total from last season and 15 to set a career high. Heading into Tuesday's games, he had the ninth best save percentage (. 926) and 10th best goals-against average (2.20) among 54 goalies with 4 or more starts since January 6.
Soderblom, meanwhile, is 2-15-1 with an .873 save percentage and 4.07 GAA in 20 games. He has yielded 4 or more goals in 8 of 18 starts.
So here's the question I posed to Richardson on Tuesday morning: Is it difficult for you guys to decide how much to play Soderblom? Because on one hand you want him to gain experience, but on the other you don't want to wreck his confidence.
His answer, not all that surprisingly, revolved completely around Mrazek.
“Petr’s deserved that job,” Richardson said. “He’s the starting goalie. You go to other teams and that’s just the way it is. A guy doesn’t let you take him out.”
He went on to say it obviously affects Soderblom's ice time, “but that's the NHL.”
Very true. Coaches send messages by healthy scratching ineffective forwards or defensemen and/or giving the more deserving goalie the majority of the starts. It's the right thing to do and sends a clear message: Step up or have a seat.
So kudos to Richardson for staying true to his principles. (Although it still feels like Soderblom should get perhaps one of every four games in a completely lost season).
Richardson finished his answer on the goalies by pivoting to his forwards. With Connor Bedard returning soon — and the rehabbing Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Beauvillier not that far behind — it should put guys like Rem Pitlick, MacKenzie Entwistle, Boris Katchouk and even Lukas Reichel on high alert.
“As we get healthier here and you want to stay in, you have to do something,” Richardson said. “I’m not talking about a spectacular end-to-end rush. … You just have to do your job and do it well and be a leader in that department. That just gets you more ice time and lets you continue to get that ice time.”
Bedard update
Coach Luke Richardson expects Connor Bedard (broken jaw) to be cleared for full practice next week. Richardson said Bedard will probably need “a few practices” before returning to game action.
After playing at Carolina on Monday, the Hawks return home to face Philadelphia on Wednesday, Feb. 21, Winnipeg on Friday, Feb. 23 and Detroit on Sunday, February 25.
The Red Wings' game will feature the return of Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, and there will be a pregame ceremony to retire Chris Chelios' No. 7.
“We're hoping sometime (around) that time frame,” Richardson said of the matchup against Detroit. “That would obviously be exciting. He'll probably try to get back before (that), which would be great. But we're gonna leave it as is and in the doctor's hands until next Monday and go from there.”
Slap shots
The Hawks placed defenseman Jarred Tinordi on injured reserve Tuesday with a right groin strain. The move is retroactive to February 7. … Vancouver has 10 players with double-digit goals. Two are former Hawks: Pius Suter with 12 and Sam Lafferty with 10. Suter had a hat trick against St. Louis on January 24. … Only four Blackhawks have double-digit goals: Jason Dickinson (16), Connor Bedard (15), Nick Foligno (11) and Tyler Johnson (10).