TAKEAWAYS: Blackhawks Wrap Trip with Disappointing Loss to Avs

The Blackhawks closed out their opening road trip with a disappointing 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night in Denver.

Chicago started strong in the early going, but couldn’t bury scoring chances in the opening minutes and quickly saw the momentum shift the other direction as Colorado netted a shorthanded tally just past the midway point of the opening frame and then scored on the power play amid a late-period push to take control early.

“Definitely a really strong team,” head coach Luke Richardson said of the Avalanche. “I thought we skated well in the first 10 minutes and then, unfortunately, they got shorthanded goal and then a power play goal, and it seemed like we were chasing after that.

“They were very strong on their sticks and they're fast team,” Richardson added. “So when we started standing still a little bit in the second half of the first period and trying to make plays doing that, they just gobbled us up. So, we were really chasing it after that the rest of the night.”

Petr Mrazek made 37 saves on 41 shots faced and largely kept the Blackhawks in the game until Devon Toews effectively put it away at 3-0 at the 13:18 mark of the second period. In a 22-minute stretch from late in the first period until the Toews goal, Mrazek made 22 saves while Colorado outshot  Chicago 23-3 -- the lone goal against in that stretch coming from Ryan Johansen on an Avalanche power play.

“Petr played unbelievable tonight for us. Some of the saves he made to keep us in there -- that game might have been 10-0,” said Nick Foligno, who admittedly missed an early chance to put Chicago in front.

“Those (missed opportunities early) are disappointing because sometimes your goalie does kick like that to keep you in a game and you get one," Foligno continued. "You know, I have an opportunity early, you've got to score those, that's on me, too. So, disappointing when you don't put those in because sometimes that does settle everyone down. And, you know, they get that one in shorthand, and it just seemed like they got a lot of momentum off that and it's too bad because, you know, we did have some good minutes to start and just seemed like we trailed off after.”

Nathan MacKinnon added even-strength tally in the third period to push the final to 4-0.

SWEET HOME, CHICAGO

The Blackhawks are gladly headed home after the final leg of a 5-game, 11-day trip that included not only the taxing rigors of an extended road swing, but also involved sitting through the home opening ceremonies for four of their five opponents — and energy the first game in front of the home crowd can bring.

Chicago finishes the trip with a 2-3-0 record -- still an overall positive accomplishment -- taking wins on opening night in Pittsburgh and on Monday in Toronto and featured overall strong play throughout. But the tank seemed to be empty on the final leg in Denver.

“I think our goal is to win, or to put our best foot forward and be competitive every night, play a certain style have an identity,” Seth Jones said. “And if we lose playing that identity, then we lose. But at least we know we did together as a team. You know, we had some good games this trip and we ended up with a bad game. So we can't get too high and we can’t get too low.”

“You know, we're going home,” Richardson said. “We've got a lot of excitement to expect there and look at some of the good hockey that we really played well on this trip, but unfortunately didn't finish off great. That was a lesson that we have to take and deal with it and come up with some answers and play better than next game.”

All eyes during the trip were on last summer’s No. 1 overall pick, Bedard, who faced is fifth fellow top pick in five games on Thursday night -- Avs center Nathan MacKinnon (2013) joined Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (2005), Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky (2022) and Toronto’s duo of Auston Matthews (2016) and John Tavares (2009) on the season-opening excursion. According to NHL Public Relations, Bedard is just the second No. 1 pick in league history to face at least five fellow top selections in his first five games.

Bedard was held without a shot on goal or a shot attempt for the first time on the night -- part of an overall throttling of the Blackhawks offense at large by the home team -- but a fact that Richardson and the team’s veterans said after the game is a learning point for the 18 year old, and the team as a whole.

“I think he's learning a lot as he goes,” Richardson said earlier in the week of the steady flow of top-pick foes. “I’m sure he's watched these players and learned from them in the past, but playing matchups (against them) one on one, you really kind of learn on the fly. I know, as a young player, it's gonna make it makes you physically stronger as well, so I think that part of it, too, playing against the top athletes in our sport and those guys, they're machines. So, it's making him stronger every repetition he goes against them.”

With the long trip now complete, the Blackhawks have their eyes fully set on a home opener of their own on Saturday night as they host the reigning champion Vegas Golden Knights at the United Center.

“Super excited,” Bedard said Thursday morning thinking ahead to his first real game in Chicago. “Our fans are -- I mean, I haven't even played played a real game and (in) preseason, it was unbelievable. So we can't wait to see that [atmosphere] and play in front of them, and I think we're all excited for that.”