The Chicago Blackhawks lost on Tuesday night to the Calgary Flames. Their road trip is now over.
The Chicago Blackhawks 2024-25 season started with a road trip. They started in Utah, came up to Winnipeg, and then headed to Alberta for two games there.
On Tuesday, this road trip (1-1-1 going in) concluded with a tilt against the red-hot Calgary Flames. Of course, the Flames began the year going 3-0-0 despite the low expectations placed on them by the masses.
In the first period, Chicago went down 1-0 thanks to a goal by Matt Coronato. 10 seconds of the game clock later, Nick Foligno tipped in a shot sent on the net by Seth Jones. It would stay 1-1 through the first intermission.
In the second period, Andrei Kuzmenko scored to give the Flames a 2-1 lead over the Hawks. Calgary sealed it with an empty netter and Matt Coronato's second of the game.
The scoring touch that Connor Bedard brought in the first three games of the season ran dry in Calgary. The Hawks outshot the Flames 32-26 but it wasn't enough to generate enough goals.
So now the Hawks end the road trip with a 1-2-1 record and three standings points. For the way that things have gone for Chicago in recent years, this isn't terrible.
On this swing out west, the Hawks showed some things. They made it clear that they need Connor Bedard and his linemates (and power play) to score goals or they are going to have a tough time winning.
They will, however, be a hard team to beat in games where he and his linemates are finding the back of the net.
Chicago also showed that they are going to play hard in every period of every game. Sometimes, they won't have the talent to get the victory. They will be a thorn in the side of a lot of teams though.
This team can defend with some of the good veterans that they have both on the back end and up front. Even in a loss like this one, they only allowed two goals on a goalie.
Speaking of a goalie, Petr Mrazek was named the third star of the game. You know a goalie played well when he was named a star of the game as the loser on the road. He made 23 saves on 25 shots in the contest.
Now that this tough road swing is finished to begin the season, they can finally come home. The Hawks will take on the San Jose Sharks at the United Center on Thursday night where it is sure to be loud.