Defensive help can’t arrive soon enough for Blackhawks
The Blackhawks' youth movement is progressing at the speed of a tectonic plate, but there was good news Tuesday.
First-round draft pick Artyom Levshunov, the No. 2 overall selection, was activated from the injured list and assigned to Rockford. When he'll make his Blackhawks debut is anyone's guess.
This was a positive step, though, and the Hawks demonstrated a dire need for defensive help Tuesday, giving up 4 first-period goals and losing to Vancouver 6-3 at the United Center.
Levshunov has been out with a broken foot since the summer. He said the injury happened when he blocked a shot, but kept skating for about a month. When the soreness didn't subside, he got an MRI, which revealed a break.
“He looked good (in practice),” coach Luke Richardson said. “I think he was excited. He was taping his sticks an hour before practice and ready to go. He really missed rookie camp and training camp, so he's kind of behind on that part of it.
“I love his attitude. He's a big guy who can skate and move. Obviously, he's very talented, so I'm excited to see him play in a game.”
Levshunov is a native of Belarus, but he's been acclimated to the U.S. by spending one year of juniors in Green Bay, then played a season at Michigan State.
“It was tough (sitting out), sort of boring,” Levshunov said at the morning skate. “I'm excited to get back with the team. Can't wait to play my first game.”
On Monday, Richardson talked about how slow starts in the first period cost the Hawks two games, against Buffalo on Saturday and in the season opener at Utah. The Hawks did nothing to fix the problem, falling behind 2-0 in the first six minutes against the Canucks.
Vancouver scored on the game's first shot attempt, just 21 seconds in. After the Blackhawks failed to clear their own zone, the Canucks suddenly had a 3-on-2 advantage and Danton Heinen beat goalie Petr Mrazek from about 15 feet.
All the Vancouver first-period goals could be considered preventable, but the Canucks always managed to have someone in perfect position, waiting for a rebound or deflection.
A slap shot bounced off the back boards and was flipped in by J.T. Miller behind Mrazek. A shot from the blue line turned out not to be a shot, but a pass to Heinen, who was camped on the doorstep and scored his second goal.
“It’s an area we need to fix, because it seems like any game we started slow, we’ve had trouble in and we can’t seem to come back from it.” forward Nick Foligno said. “It’s a lesson to us how hard we need to play. We’re still trying to prove who e are and get the respect we need to get around the league. That’s not the way to go about it.”
The Blackhawks got a nice pass from behind the net from Jason Dickinson to Ryan Donato to get on the board. The second goal was a turnover that bounced over the stick of a Canucks player. Taylor Hall grabbed the loose puck and put it in to close the deficit to 3-2.
That was the final appearance of any sort of Hawks momentum. The score remained 4-2 until Vancouver scored two quick goals midway through the third. The Hawks finally ended their drought when Tyler Bertuzzi scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 5:54 remaining.