THREE THINGS: Litmus Test, One Not Two and the Cat is Back

The Blackhawks fell into a 2-0 hole early on Tuesday night, but rallied to tie the game on two separate occasions before ultimately falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout at the United Center, 4-3.
Philipp Kurashev and Dylan Strome each scored his fourth of the year and Patrick Kane added his fifth in the loss, while Kevin Lankinen made a career-high 38 stops as Chicago added another point to their record.

"Carolina's an excellent team. So much size and speed and skill and depth throughout the lineup. They really challenged us right from the beginning. The first 7-8 minutes, we weren't quite ready for how they were going to come at us. We got caught on the wrong side a couple of times, and when they've got the size and speed, it's hard to recover. We dug ourselves a bit of a whole but really happy with how we bounced back and responded."
"We were right there. We know we're going to have to be better to compete against them," Colliton continued. "Would love to get the two points, would've been sure nice to build on the last few games, but you can't fault the compete and effort."

Here are three takeaways from the shootout loss:

LITMUS TEST

Since the opening two games of the season against the defending-champion Lightning, the Blackhawks are a vastly improved team. After games against several other division foes, perhaps their biggest test since the opening two tilts came on Tuesday against a talented Hurricanes lineup that had won four straight and can not only score many goals, but can be stingy allowing them the other way.
"We knew coming in what a test it was going to be," Colliton said. "They were missing however many guys the last few games and when you watched the game, they looked dynamite. Then they're adding all these guys (back) from their COVID list.
"Big challenge and for the most part we answered the bell. We did get some big saves, especially in the third to hold us in, but I just like that we stuck with it and we had a chance to win the game. We managed the game well enough to be in it at the end and recognizing that we've got to keep getting better."
Carolina came into the night with the fewest goals per game allowed in the NHL (1.67). The Chicago offense scored three goals against the visitors, something done just twice to the Canes this year. The Blackhawks also notched a power-play tally for the 10th game this season against a Hurricanes penalty kill that entered the night second in the NHL, killing off 91.3% of their minors. They had allowed just two goals against this season and killed off 13 of their last 14 disadvantages.
"I think we're playing more of a team now," Alex DeBrincat said of the difference in the group from early on. "Finding a way to stay in games and push games to overtime or a shootout or whatever it may be. We've got a chance to win. A big part of that is our goalies keeping us in it. I think there's a lot of positives in that game, but we've got to figure out a way to come out with some wins."

ONE, NOT TWO

Tuesday was the fourth time this season that 60 minutes could not decide a contest, but also the fourth time that the Blackhawks found themselves unable to add the second point in overtime or a shootout. With two overtime defeats and, now, two shootout losses, the points picked up have been beneficial, but the points missed out on are beginning to mount.
"It's frustrating," Strome said. "Four overtime losses or shootout losses now. Those are valuable points even at this point in the season with the short schedule. Feel like our record could be better than indicated, but we've got to find a way to come out on top. Battled back and at least nice to get a point."
"We've got to find a way to be better (in overtime)," Colliton said. "Finding a way to create a little more, taking care of the puck a little more in over time. We've had some chances, no question. We need to improve. The shootout, it's a crap shoot, but obviously we've got to find a way to score."

THE CAT IS BACK

Tuesday's game saw the return of DeBrincat and Nicolas Beaudin to the Blackhawks lineup from the NHL's COVID Protocol. The forward missed four games over eight days, while the rookie defenseman missed just one outing after being added to the list on Saturday.
DeBrincat, who had six points (2G, 4A) over his first six games of the year, picked up right where he left off with a pair of primary assists, each on a Chicago game-tying goal.
"He was really good," Colliton said. "It was unfortunate we lost him there when we did because I think he was playing so well away from the puck and with the puck, making a lot of plays, very comfortable on the power play. Hoping we can get him back up to speed as quick as we can. I thought tonight, you can't ask for much more after being off the ice for so many days. He was skating, he made plays and won battles. He's a very important player for us."
"It was a little tough," DeBrincat said of coming back to game action after nine days away from the team. "I had morning skate to get the legs back under me and get the legs back a little bit. First period I was just trying to keep it simple and play an easy game. Turned out fine, I felt pretty good the rest of the game."
Since DeBrincat and Adam Boqvist became the first two Blackhawks to enter COVID protocol (followed over the next week by Lucas Wallmark, Ryan Carpenter and Beaudin), the team picked up points in three of four outings with a 1-1-2 record overall. The hope is that as more bodies become available, they'll only add to the Blackhawks' recent success.
"That's the right direction, for sure. You don't want that list getting larger," Colliton said earlier in the day of getting two of the five Blackhawk names on the list cleared. "Credit to our team, I think we handled it really well as far as just taking care of business and focusing on own performance. It's easy when things don't go your way to feel sorry for yourself. That's not the approach we want to have, that's not the mentality that we want to have in our team. That was really nice to see how we responded in all four games with varying levels of uncertainty and we came away with a bunch of points. As we get guys back hopefully, we continue to build."