TAKEAWAYS: Blackhawks Fall Flat to Red Wings in 5-1 Defeat

Despite a power play goal from Lukas Reichel in the first period, the Chicago Blackhawks continued to struggle on the special team unit in the 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. 

Joey Anderson described the game as “lackluster” for the Blackhawks after a few mishaps and their inability to build off the momentum that they tried to spark throughout the evening. With a high offensive team like the Red Wings, they found a way to use it to help their game. 

“We had some sloppy plays with the puck and a couple of segments where maybe the compete level wasn't quite where it needed to be,” Joey Anderson said. “They have a good offensive team; they're going to take advantage of those little things.” 

Chicago suffered its seventh defeat in the last nine games and still looks for the first string of wins this season.

While the team felt they developed some good playing patterns in Tuesday’s win, Tyler Johnson noticed that the team got away from their structure and went back into old habits against Detroit. 

“When you take care of the puck, when you do the right things, when you're all on the same page, it makes the game so much easier,” Johnson said. “For whatever reason, we just got away from that.” 

Before the matchup, head coach Luke Richardson discussed the recent efforts on the power play and how he wanted to see them improve with more shots on the net. By the end of the night, the unit went 1-for-3 and allowed a short-handed goal to give the Red Wings the lead for the rest of the contest. 

Both Johnson and Richardson agreed that the team held onto the puck for too long to try and create the perfect pass when instead, they could have seen more movement to try and take advantage of those chances to provide some energy. 

“When you're on the [power play], you have to be moving,” Johnson said. “You have to have some speed and you have to be making those decisions quickly. It's not holding on to the puck and trying to do something just by yourself, you have an extra guy, you have to use that to your advantage and we're not doing that.”

As the team continues to strive for a string of success, Richardson wants his players to focus on how they can play a simpler game, especially with two more road games this upcoming weekend. 

“It's to the point of the season that we got to try and make some ground,” Richardson said. “Making ground means not always just in the standings but… I think we have to be consistent and we haven't done that yet this year.”