The Chicago Blackhawks' game against the St. Louis Blues didn't start how the Blackhawks wanted or probably anyone thought it would. The Blues are a desperate team fighting for their last hope at sneaking into the playoffs. St. Louis came out flying. Chicago wasn't ready. The Blackhawks allowed four goals in the first seven minutes. What made it worse: The Blues scored on their first four shots. Their fourth goal even came after Chicago starting goalie Petr Mrazek was replaced by Arvid Söderblom. The goaltenders are not to blame here and there was no shade being thrown at them either. The team and coaches all knew that the chances given up were high quality and the netminders had little chance at starting the game successfully. The first goal of the game for the Blues came on a breakaway because both Blackhawks defensemen were unaware of Jordan Kyrou skating between them on the breakout. The second goal was off a 2-on-1 for the Blues. Three Chicago players were close to and had their attention on the Blues player on the wall with the puck without disrupting him. That included a defenseman that didn't see the second Blues forward already breaking out of the defensive end to create the chance. At that point, Kyrou once again had an open and uncontested shot while the last D-man back covered the pass. The third goal against came with three bodies in the shot lane (two Blackhawks), so Mrazek, who allowed the first three goals of the game, had a very limited view of the puck and nobody blocked the shot on the way through from the blue line. The fourth goal was a real breakdown defensively as the play started with a 2-on-4 for the Blues in the offensive zone. It quickly turned into two Blues players in front of the net with no Blackhawks between them and the goalie. This allowed for a tic-tac-toe and gave Söderblom, who had entered in relief, nearly no chance at saving the puck as he had to move across the net in milliseconds. Luke Richardson on team's horrid start that led to 5-2 loss to Blues. Given the breakdowns, how could the goaltending be blamed here? Mrazek has without a doubt been one of the best players on the team this season and has held Chicago in more games than they had business being in. Postgame, Luke Richardson said, "Unfortunately, we didn't give Petr much help, giving them a breakaway and a 2-on-1 to start the game." To give those up within the first three minutes of a game, any team would be lucky to not be down at least 1-0 and be forced to battle from behind. Despite more comebacks in the NHL these days, playing from behind is not easy, especially for a young and inexperienced team. Richardson added, "We've been pretty good most of the year and then there's been a couple times when we're just not aware." He said what got discussed in the pre-game preparation got forgotten early. Bad games happen, but some things can still be controlled, like when to pinch or where to take risks. As Richardson said, "usually if there's one hiccup you can kind of rebound, but you can't let it repeat two or three times and be down like that." The head coach added, "It wasn't just one play. It was everybody and everything and just not ready to play." Richardson didn't want to call any one specific player out, but noted it was definitely an issue breaking out cleanly and the team's play at five-on-five. The Blackhawks surrendered all five goals at even strength. Once again, the Blackhawks must learn from this and be ready to start on time and be aware. As a young team, a similar start may happen, but the team might be able to recover quicker. The Blackhawks practiced on Thursday morning in Chicago, after returning from St. Louis. Recent Blackhawks News Comparing Bedard's Numbers With And Without The "Fishbowl" [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/comparing-bedards-numbers-with-without-the-fishbowl] Joel Quenneville Has Sights Set on Coaching Again: Up to 10 Potential Teams [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/joel-quenneville-has-sights-set-on-coaching-up-to-10-potential-teams] Connor Bedard On Blackhawks New "Top Prospects" Line Versus Blues [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day/connor-bedard-on-blackhawks-new-top-prospects-line-versus-blues] Connor Bedard Praised By Calder Competitor Brock Faber: "He's A Superstar." [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news/connor-bedard-praised-by-calder-competitor-brock-faber-hes-a-superstar]
