SALT LAKE CITY — Any hopes that the Blackhawks’ first-game struggles were largely due to quality of opponent were dashed Thursday.
In a 6-0 blowout loss against a solid but probably not elite Mammoth team, the Hawks looked even more discombobulated than they did Tuesday.
It remains foolish to jump to conclusions after just two games (out of 84). The Sharks lost their first six games last season before becoming one of the NHL’s most-improved teams, after all.
But if one did jump to conclusions now, they would likely be along these lines: the Hawks are the worst team of all time, they’ll never make the playoffs again and perhaps the apocalypse is imminent.
That’s how atrocious these two games have been.
“Obviously, [we] haven’t seen our best hockey yet, by far,” a tight-lipped Frank Nazar said. “So [we’ll] continue to focus on the process and keep working towards that, because you know it’s going to come.”
Said a more loquacious Ian Cole: “I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of conversations going forward here. We have a long flight ahead of us [to Buffalo]. I’m sure they’ll be broached on that. It’s not good enough. We think that we’re a much better team than this.”
The Hawks were consistently incapable of exiting their defensive zone Thursday, either because the Mammoth anticipated and intercepted their passes or because they missed their mark or whiffed on the puck entirely.
Coach Jeff Blashill said the Hawks made decisions “too slow,” which was evident.
Two periods in, the Mammoth held an absurd 31-8 advantage in scoring chances (including 12-0 in high-danger chances). The Hawks’ better third period was essentially irrelevant.
Bowen Byram, acquired to be the Hawks’ new premier defenseman, was one of many players who especially struggled.
After Byram’s pairing with Alex Vlasic was outshot 12-1 and conceded two goals in the first half of the game, Blashill moved him back to his natural left side, pairing him with Artyom Levshunov. The forward lines were also thoroughly shuffled, continuing this week’s trend.
“I have tons of belief in these guys,” Blashill said. “I said it when I took the job: ‘You stay steady on the rudder.’ Man, this is two games. … Yes, we have urgency to go play a good hockey game on Saturday. But my focus is on us continuing to get better as a group. That doesn’t change.”
Bedard watch
As other Blackhawks trickled off the ice following practice Wednesday, Connor Bedard was getting dressed to go on the ice by himself.
Bedard has been on the ice a lot lately, which seems like a good sign. But general manager Kyle Davidson isn’t willing to commit yet to Bedard returning sooner than November, as originally estimated.
“We’re just operating off the initial timeline,” Davidson said Tuesday. “All along, we were going to find out new information, if anything, probably in October. Until we have that…”
Energy management
The Hawks held their usual pre-game meetings but didn’t hold a morning skate Thursday.
It sounded like they might try minimizing morning skates this season, although the way things played out Thursday might change their minds.
“We just felt like, from an energy-management standpoint, we didn’t want certain guys on the ice,” Blashill said before the game. “And those guys were probably going on the ice if we gave them the option.
“It’s one of the hard challenges of coaching in this league, trying to find that balance of when to practice, when to conserve energy. If you never practice, you lose your habits and probably your structure. If you practice all the time, you probably play tired. There’s no easy solution to it.”