This was not as much fun as Sunday’s game against the Penguins.
Posted on by Dave Melton
The Blackhawks were shutout for just the second time this season on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, losing 5-0 to the Penguins.
Just before the first period could end scoreless, a Kevin Korchinski penalty put the Penguins on the power play (more on that in the notes) and Sidney Crosby scored a goal with a wicked redirect of a pass that an incredibly low number of players could replicate:
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 8, 2025Power play goal for Pittsburgh!
Scored by Sidney Crosby with 00:16 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust.
Pittsburgh: 1
Chicago: 0#CHIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/XsGTXVTnBK
About five minutes into the second period, a failed breakout pass from Teuvo to Nazar in a bad portion of the ice for a turnover led to a quick counter the other way and an Erik Karlsson goal:
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 9, 2025Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Erik Karlsson with 15:15 remaining in the 2nd period.
See AlsoPenguins 5-0 Blackhawks (Apr 8, 2025) Final Score - ESPNIt’s Such A Good Feeling: Blackhawks 3, Penguins 1Pittsburgh Penguins vs Chicago Blackhawks hockey Head To HeadMikheyev scores twice, Blackhawks hold off Penguins to end 5-game skid | NHL.comAssisted by Ville Koivunen and Bryan Rust.
Pittsburgh: 2
Chicago: 0#CHIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/jHRZOFvjRN
The game then unraveled in the third. First, Kris Letang scored at the 4:28 mark of the final period to make it a 3-0 game:
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 9, 2025Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Kris Letang with 15:32 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Conor Timmins.
Pittsburgh: 3
Chicago: 0#CHIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Mp3zic2V54
Then Kevin Hayes (h/t to Putmeinthemadhouse in the Game Thread with the Captain Stairwell reference, iykyk) made it a 4-0 game with this goal at the 7:42 mark:
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 9, 2025Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Kevin Hayes with 12:18 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Danton Heinen and Connor Dewar.
Pittsburgh: 4
Chicago: 0#CHIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/D8U7nvb3pt
Hayes added a second with just under two minutes remaining for the final tally of the night:
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 9, 2025Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Kevin Hayes with 01:47 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Danton Heinen and Noel Acciari.
Pittsburgh: 5
Chicago: 0#CHIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/3F6fexvkBj
Notes
Let’s take a closer look at the play which ended with Korch taking a penalty near the end of the first period because the intermission show chalked it up to “Korchinski letting someone get behind him” but that misses the full context of the play a bit. It’s also worth noting that Korch may not have committed any penalty at all, because it’s harder and harder to locate the infraction upon review. But let’s take a look at what happened on that play anyway (Yes, these are pictures of my TV screen taken with my phone because it seemed the easiest way to do this. Sue me.)
As Pittsburgh gains possession, notice that Rinzel is near the left faceoff dot after jumping up in the play. Teuvo moved back to cover, so he and Korch are off the screen to the right. Nothing seems too dangerous in this moment.
Here’s where things get interesting. Teuvo is still off-screen and the last man back. Korch is at the blue line and he appears to be communicating to Rinzel that he needs to stay on his man as the puck starts moving the other way. Korch has the puck carrier and Teuvo has the head man.
In the photo above, though, Rinzel’s eyes are on the puck carrier. And, a few seconds later, a 2-on-1 is developing because Rinzel is a few steps behind the player he was initially alongside:
Korch recognized the threat and tried to get into the passing lane but wasn’t quite there in time, although locating exactly what his infraction was remains a challenge.
To be fair to Rinzel, he was at the end of a shift so he may not have had much in the tank in this moment. Still a teachable moment for everyone involved.
That said, yet another excellent game overall from Rinzel. We’ll just continue this bit until it’s proven wrong: five games in, still nowhere near enough evidence for him to be playing anywhere other than Chicago.
Speaking of those two players, it’s worth comparing what Rinzel has looked like with what Korchinski has looked like. They were selected in the same draft and were born four days apart, so they have virtually identical starting points. Korch spent his first post-draft season in the WHL then came to the NHL and has spent most of this season in the AHL, while Rinzel went one season in the USHL then two in the NCAA before arriving in the NHL a few weeks ago. Rinzel seems like a guy who’s ready for a full 82 in the NHL while Korch continues to have enough issues pile up over the course of a game that they’re harder to ignore in lieu of his positive contributions and it seems like more seasoning in the AHL is going to be required for Korch to find the form that made him a No. 7 overall pick. It doesn’t mean Korch is finished — nor does it mean Rinzel is destined for stardom — but it’s a stark contrast on how those two careers have unfolded since the 2022 draft. From this vantage point, the biggest red flag with Korch’s play this season has been the lack of creative plays in the offensive zone like the ones we’ve seen from Rinzel, because those creative offensive plays are why he was drafted so high.
Oh, and here’s where a deeply cynical person would point out which one of those players had their entire development occur away from the organization that drafted them while another was brought into the fold about two years ago. But it’s a good thing that no deeply cynical person is authoring this recap, isn’t it?
Feels like there haven’t been a ton of standout Bedard moments lately. Here’s one that didn’t lead to a goal but did generate a decent scoring chance:
— Second City Hockey (@secondcityhockey.bsky.social) April 8, 2025 at 7:49 PMA decent offensive chance for Kaiser thanks to Bedard deciding to be a one-man zone entry.
Still, that’s now seven games without a goal for Bedard and he just four assists in that span. It’s hard to think we’re at any other point for him outside of hoping for a healthy finish to the season and a complete mental reset over the summer that his him ready to torch the NHL come October.
The third goal largely came from Oliver Moore losing his check in the D zone, while the fourth goal largely came from Artyom Levshunov’s ill-timed pinch in the neutral zone that created an odd-man rush. Those are the rookie mistakes that are going to happen with such a youth-filled roster.
Oh, and looks like we’re back to this:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 9, 2025Blackhawks held a long team meeting after the game.
Murphy: "Sometimes it's good to blow off some steam and not sit on it for days…how bad we played."
Donato talked about a lack of "buy-in" to the game plan. Sorensen said it was "mind-boggling" how badly they played.
They’ve had so many of those meetings this season, I have no idea how anyone is supposed to care about them at this point — and it feels like that includes the players in said meeting. Just get this season over with, already.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Kevin Hayes (PIT) — 2 goals
- Tristan Jarry (PIT) — 26-save shutout
- Erik Karlsson (PIT) — 1 goal
What’s Next
With only four games remaining, the Blackhawks stay out east to face the Bruins in Boston on Thursday at 6 p.m.
