RECAP: Blackhawks Can't Withstand League-Leading Canucks in Loss

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Blackhawks couldn't contain the league-leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at the United Center, falling 4-2 on home ice.

Tyler Johnson got Chicago on the board in the middle frame and Kevin Korchinski added a late tally in the third, but Vancouver's early two-goal lead courtesy of Conor Garland and a lopsided first period proved insurmountable, with Nils Hoglander and Dakota Joshua adding insurance goals for the visitors late.

Petr Mrazek made 34 stops in his fifth straight start.

"Last three games, two terrible starts," defenseman Seth Jones said. "I wish I had answers for you. We've got to come out with just a lot more fire, a lot more juice. If it's not for (Mrazek) it could be 4-0 in the first 10 minutes. [We were] winning no battles down low. They won every single puck battle. Couldn't get pucks out. Weren't working together at all, and it's kind of hard to get momentum after that. We kind of had it, what was it, 2-1 and then they score right after. Just mental breakdowns everywhere."

QUICK HITS

• Tyler Johnson scored his 10th of the season on the power play in the second period, reaching a double-digit goal total in back-to-back seasons for the first time since doing so 2018-19 and 2019-20 with Tampa Bay.
• Kevin Korchinski netted his third goal of the season off a 2-on-1 rush in the thir period to make it a 4-2 game. Two of his three on the year have come against Canadian teams at home (Nov. 24 vs. TOR).
• Taylor Raddysh skated in his 200th NHL game on Tuesday night, his 147th in a Blachkawks sweater with another 53 games played for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2021-22 campaign.
• Philipp Kurashev notched a primary helper on the opening goal, giving him three straight games with assists (4 total) since the All-Star break. The forward now has 20 assists on the season, a career-best and team-leading total. His now 28 points on the season are also a career best.
• Nick Foligno also pushed his point streak to three games (2G, 1A) with the secondary assist on Johnson's goal, his 10th assist of the year.
• For the second time in the last three games, the Chicago offense was held to just a single shot on goal in the opening frame (Feb. 7 vs. MIN).

THEY SAID IT

• "I think we've been proud on how the guys have worked over the last month but not tonight. That wasn't the same effort. Kind of the same results -- pulling the goalie and putting a little pressure on the end but not the way we want to do things around here... right after we killed that first penalty, it went downhill. I thought they turned their speed up and their want, their determination level. And we didn't. We definitely didn't match it. Nowhere even close. They really showed where they are in the standings and showed us where we are. That's nothing to be proud of tonight," - head coach Luke Richardson on not matching Vancouver's effort in loss.
• "Oh, we were aware. We were definitely aware. The fans were aware. It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing you can't get a one puck to the net. I don't know if we need to shoot it quicker or we need to have a shot mentality a little bit more and stop being so cute in the offensive zone. But yeah, I think I took a muffin one-timer at the end (of the period) just put a one up there, to be honest." - Seth Jones on being held without a shot in the first period until a late power-play chance.
• "(Lukas Reichel) made a good play up the wall and (Ryan Donato) made a fantastic pass me, and I just had to bury it. So it was great play by Dono and Reichs, and just unfortunate at the time and the goal it wasn't a closer game." - Kevin Korchinski on his late goal off an odd-man rush.

GAME LINKS

• Game Summary
• Full Box Score
• Highlights

WHAT'S NEXT

The Blackhawks wrap their two-game season set against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at the United Center -- a rematch of the season-opening contest for both teams.

POSTGAME VIDEO