THREE THINGS: Cat Strikes, vs. Vasilevskiy and End of the Road

Chicago's skid reached a season-high four games on Saturday afternoon in Florida as the Blackhawks fell to the Lightning at Amalie Arena, 4-1.
"We weren't able to break through and then when we made a mistake, they punished us. That's clearly an area we've got to be better in," head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "We're going to make mistakes, no surprise there, but hopefully the unforced ones… those are things you want to stamp out if you want to beat top teams like we've been playing. There's still things we can build on over the last few games, but ultimately we've got to put it together to get results."

Alex DeBrincat scored the lone visiting tally on the afternoon with a third-period writer and Malcolm Subban stopped 25 shots in the loss.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

CAT STRIKE

DeBrincat's lone tally for Chicago marked his fifth of the season and seventh point overall against Tampa in seven games.
"I thought we were working hard. Had a lot of chances, but goalie played well," DeBrincat said of the lone goal. "Few breakdown that they score on, but that's what good teams do. I think we've got to do better. We've got to play a full 60 and bury our chances. We had a lot, but we've got to figure out a way to put them in."
The winger pushed his team goal lead to 16 tallies and, through 28 games this year, is just two off his goal total from all of last season in 70 skates.

VS. VASILEVSKIY

Andrei Vasilevskiy continued his dominance over the Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon, stopping 30 shots and allowing a single goal against with his side already out to a 4-0 advantage.
"He was a big factor in the game. We had a lot of chances, especially early," Colliton said. "We had more than our share, but we're got to fight through it. We're being tested. It's been a hard stretch."
In six meetings against the Blackhawks this season, Vasilevskiy is now 6-0-0 with a .937 save percentage. He hasn't lost a game overall in now a full month, his last defeat coming on Feb. 20 against Carolina.

END OF THE ROAD

The Blackhawks head home after the sixth and final game of the longest road trip of the season. With stops in Dallas, Florida and Tampa, Chicago posted a 1-5-0 record over the 13-day trek.
They'll head home to open a season-long six-game homestand on Tuesday night as the Florida Panthers visit Chicago for the first time this year.
"I think we needed a lot more points than we got," Adam Boqvist said. "It was a long road trip. Overall, I think we played pretty decent, but against these teams, you've got to find a way to win every battle, forecheck hard and put the puck to the net. That's how you're going to win games. Obviously, it's going to be good to go home now."
"All the teams we've played, when you make mental mistakes or you're not sharp or you're soft in key moments, they score. They make you pay. We're working pretty hard for our chances and it's not coming as easy as sometimes it does. You're going to go through stretches like that. We've been made to suffer for the mistakes we made and we've got to react accordingly."
After playing 19 of the first 32 games of the season away from the United Center, the Blackhawks will close out their 2020-21 schedule with just nine of their final 24 tilts on the road.