4 takeaways from Chicago Blackhawks' record-setting 6-2 loss, including Arvid Söderblom's nightmare of a night

Chicago Tribune

16-03-2025

It wasn't the first time in the rebuild era that the Chicago Blackhawks lost every game on a four-game trip — heck, they were swept on four- and five-game trips last season — but they outdid themselves in Saturday's 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Hawks set a team record for most goals allowed on 15 shots on goal. That's right, just 15 shots.
The previous high on 15 or fewer shots was five goals allowed, which the Hawks did twice — a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 7, 1995, and a 5-4 overtime loss to the Canucks on March 21, 2017 — according to NHL Stats and Information.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Canucks had just 16 scoring chances — at all strengths.
'We felt like we could've had more pushback or more survival in some of the chances coming back on our end,' Hawks defenseman Connor Murphy said.
Goalie Arvid Söderblom matched his worst outing since giving up six goals to the New York Rangers on Jan. 5.
It didn't seem like the Hawks would close the trip this way. They deserved a better outcome in the first period than to be down 2-0. They were good on breakouts, made clean, smart passes and were unusually impressive with their puck pressure. The Canucks didn't get a second shot on goal until 8 minutes, 33 seconds into the game.
But it was stunning how quickly things went awry.
The Hawks held the Canucks at bay, even dominating possession at times, but with less than three minutes until the first intermission, Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers scored 35 seconds apart.
Conor Garland made it 3-0 in the second period, but Alex Vlasic finally gave the Hawks life with a 51-foot snipe to Arturs Silovs' glove side, assisted by Ryan Donato.
Vancouver's Elias Pettersson scored 4:01 into the third, which required a review to confirm. During a four-on-four, Hawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser bagged his third goal this month, with Artyom Levshunov getting his first NHL point with the assist.
But the Hawks defense completely unraveled as Nils Aman and ex-Hawk Pius Suter scored eight seconds apart.
Eight seconds.
Interim coach Anders Sorensen blamed defensive breakdowns.
'They were magnified,' he said. 'Didn't read the rush well. Didn't read the coverage well.'
Added Murphy: 'We just can't seem to put it together long enough. Maybe it's recognizing how important each shift is as the game gets going, or knowing you're on the road and teams know how to score when you give them looks. It's just tightening up.'
Here are four takeaways.
1. Connor Bedard had another bad night.
After referee Chris Rooney sent him to the penalty box for 'abuse of officials' for the last 10 minutes of Thursday's game in San Jose, Bedard received another 10-minute misconduct with 2:39 left in Vancouver.
He seemed to deserve the penalty for mouthing off in the Sharks game.
The situation in Vancouver, however? On its face, it looked ridiculous.
Bedard appeared to be coming to the aid of Lukas Reichel, who was grabbed from behind by Derek Forbort and started mixing it up, with more Canucks coming.
Bedard hadn't even done anything yet — and had his back to Filip Hronek — when Hronek attacked him. And Suter jumped in and threw some punches.
And somehow Bedard got a misconduct? Explain that one to me. And, no, Bedard didn't appear to be saying anything to the refs as he skated off.
That's how the North Vancouver native's second NHL homecoming ended.
Offensively, he took two shots and was once again a nonfactor. Defensively, his line gave up two goals and he committed two hooking penalties.
Bedard had only one assist to show for the four-game trip — and the two misconducts.
2. Let's pause this 'goalies of the future' talk.
Spencer Knight gave up some softies to the Sharks, but Söderblom looked much worse Saturday.
He looked like the old Söderblom who had some nightmarish visits to the Pacific Northwest (remember those games in Seattle?). It appeared he was back to oversliding against shooting threats and leaving the opposite side of the net exposed, and the Canucks took advantage.
Sorensen didn't blame Söderblom and harped on his defenders.
'It's tough because we didn't help him there,' he said. 'They were magnified. It was too easy. Couple of lateral plays that were basically empty-netters. Not much he can do about those.'
Once Petr Mrázek was traded to Detroit, Knight and Söderblom were declared the Hawks' future goaltenders.
But you have to wonder if Söderblom's pending restricted free agency — high stakes in what otherwise has been a career year for him — is starting to weigh heavily.
3. Alex Vlasic has picked up the offensive slack for Seth Jones.
In the eight games since Jones was traded to Florida, Vlasic has produced two goals and two assists.
Both helpers came on the power play, which was Jones' bread and butter. And half of Vlasic's four goals this season have come within an eight-day stretch.
4. Artyom Levshunov achieved an important milestone.
The rookie defenseman didn't hesitate with his shots and puck decisions and looked comfortable with the NHL level. He made a very heady play to connect with Kaiser for a goal as the Canucks were making a line change.
Kevin Dean said of Levshunov during the CHSN+ broadcast, 'He's not overthinking, he's just on his toes trying to make the next play.'
Of course there were some hiccups too. He was on the ice for Myers' and Pettersson's goals.
Just before Pettersson's goal, Nils Hoglander picked Levshunov's pocket in the Hawks end. On Myers' goal, Kiefer Sherwood ran interference on Levshunov — a pick play, if you will — to give Myers an open look.
Sorensen said Levshunov did 'OK.'
'It's a young man that's trying to learn to play in the NHL,' he said.
Levshunov also broke up several passes and blocked four shots, so give him credit there. He was happy to get his first point.
'I'm so excited,' Levshunov said. 'But I want to score — and win. Got to win too.'