THREE THINGS: Trailing Off, 'A' in Murphy and Dream Come True

The Blackhawks dropped the opening matchup of their 2020-21 season on Wednesday night to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1.
Dylan Strome stuck late in the contest with a power play tally, banking a shot in from behind the goal line, but it was too little, too late with Chicago already staring at a five-goal deficit.

"Certainly not the way we wanted to start the year," head coach Jeremy Colliton said after the loss. "Gave up too many chances and too many goals."
CHI at TBL
GAMECENTER: CHI at TBL
RECAP: Blackhawks Fall to Lightning, 5-1
GALLERY: Blackhawks at Lightning
INSIDER: Season Preview, Interview with Mitchell
Here are three takeaways from the loss in Tampa:

TRAILING OFF

To open the game, Chicago didn't look like a team that would lose a 5-0 result. Over the first half of the first period, the visitors actually led in shots, 6-2, and scoring chances, 3-0. But a missed opportunity on the power play followed soon thereafter by a converted man advantage by the Lightning started to turn the tide on the first period, and the Blackhawks found themselves down 3-0 at the first break.
"I didn't mind our start," Colliton continued. "The first 10 minutes or so, even overall the first period, I thought it was fairly even, but they found a way to score. They come through on the power play, a couple rebound goals, a deflection goal. They found a way to manufacture some offense. I thought we had some chances that we didn't convert on. We did some good things but execution was lacking a few times where we could've made them pay and created a little more and just didn't. And then after 3-0, I didn't think we were good enough."
"Once you get down a couple against these guys, it's tough to chase the game," Strome said. "Thought we did some good things, but obviously not enough. Got to find a way to create some more chances. They're a good hockey team. They play tight. Every time we got the puck in the neutral zone, they were right on us. Got to find a way to create chances and do good on the forecheck so we can sustain some pressure. Obviously wasn't good enough tonight."

'A' IN MURPHY

With captain Jonathan Toews out of the lineup indefinitely to start the season, Colliton had a choice to make about who would wear the third alternate captain's 'A' on the sweater for the season opener. Patrick Kane has had one on his chest since Brent Seabrook went down last December, and alongside regular alternate Duncan Keith, the head coach turned to Connor Murphy to complete the trio.

"It really was an honor," Murphy said after the game. "I think we're really privileged, lucky to be in this organization, wearing this jersey, these logos, putting it on every game. To see a letter there tonight was really special to me. Having guys out right now -- 'Seabs' and 'Tazer' -- and being on a younger team, it's an opportunity for us to wear letters on different guys for some games. That was definitely an honor for me and I'm really grateful to be given that with a special team like this."
"He's played a bunch of years in the league and just the way he plays, he's dependable, he plays for the team, he does the dirty work, he's physical, he's hard to play against and he's not afraid to be vocal in the room," Colliton said of the move. "As time has gone on here, he's taken more and more of a role leadership-wise, so certainly he deserved it."

'DREAM COME TRUE'

Amid the six new faces to the Blackhawks' opening-night roster from a year ago, only one was experiencing professional hockey for the very first time.
Ian Mitchell, a Chicago second-round pick in 2017, made his long-awaited NHL debut on Wednesday night, paired with Calvin de Haan for the majority of the game. The rookie logged 17:15 of ice time and recorded one shot in the loss.
"Dream come true," Mitchell said after morning skate, acknowledging that his nerves for his first game woke him up at 5 a.m. "Just wishing my family could be here with me. They'll be cheering on hard at home. Just trying to make everyone proud that helped me along the way that can say I made it. Excited for tonight."
"Ian looks very poised, very calm," Strome said pregame. "He looks like he's been in the league for about 10 years. He's great with the puck and I think it's going to help him playing with Cal. Very steady defenseman and they're going to help each other out and complement each other."
Wearing No. 51 in his first game -- a prominent number in recent Blackhawks defensive history -- held a special meaning for the former Denver University captain, too.
"Fifteen is my number and Zack Smith had it when I was getting to choose, so Troy Parchman, our equipment manager, said 'What about 51?'" Mitchell explained. "That's Brian Campbell's old number, so right when he said that, I (thought) that was really great for me because he was a guy that I looked up to growing up. To be able to wear it on the Hawks too is pretty cool."