Chicago got off to to a solid start behind goals by Ryan Donato and Jason Dickinson. Then the Hawks "didn't play smart" and seemed "unaware" at times per coach Luke Richardson.
Ryan Donato scored for a second straight game and Jason Dickinson fired in a career-high 10th goal, but the last-place Chicago Blackhawks (10-21-1) once again failed to build on a lead in a 5-2 loss to the Montréal Canadiens on Friday.
Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky each had a goal and assist for MontréalConnor Bedard assisted on Donato's goal with a nifty pass. The NHL's rookie scoring leader has five points in his last three games, and upped his totals to 12 goals and 29 points in his first 32 contests.
The sellout crowd of 20,340 at the United Center had something to get excited about when Dickinson made it 2-0 at 3:43 of the second period. Davidson rifled in a shot after Colin Blackwell set him up with a nifty, spinning play in the slot.
The Blackhawks were in good position, but then let the Canadiens take over. "They pushed and we didn't," Dickinson said. See the following video.
Blackwell, playing in just his second game since hernia surgery in March, also hit the post on a short-handed breakaway in the first period.
"I don’t think we played a smart game," coach Luke Richardson said. "It was kind of 50-50 in the first period and I don’t think we were great but we had a nice goal and then I thought we started out the second period pretty good, skating.
"Then we just weren’t playing smart. We were doubling up on forechecks and we were doubling up on backchecks and that left people wide open. Just kind of unaware. Just the battle level for them in that second period, they just ramped it up and we played on the outside."
Korchinski, Tinordi Return
The Blackhawks also should have buoyed by the return of defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Jarred Tinordi.
It was the first game for the 19-year-old Korchinski since Dec. 7 versus Anaheim. The rookie flew back to Chicago on Monday following the funeral of his father, Larry, in their hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The rugged 31-year-old Tinordi was activated from injured reserve after missing six games with a concussion. In a corresponding move, Chicago assigned defensemen Wyatt Kaiser and Filip Roos to Rockford of the AHL.
Chicago remained without defensemen Seth Jones and rookie Alex Vlasic. Both have shoulder injuries.
Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and David Savard each had a goal and assist for the Canadiens.
Mitchell Stephens and Josh Anderson also scored for Montréal. With their second win over the Blackhawks this season, the Canadiens rolled into the NHL’s Christmas break with points in five straight games (3-0-2).