Blackhawks' boring loss to Flames precedes two big upcoming games
Ahead of two of the most anticipated nights of the season, the Blackhawks' matchup Thursday against the Flames felt oddly similar to a preseason game.
A crowd of 16,652 at the United Center — the smallest since October — witnessed an extremely boring 60 minutes of hockey as the Hawks fell 3-1.
It marked their third consecutive home loss, during which they've scored just one goal each time.
In fact, the only goal scored by either team during the game's final 55 minutes — following an eventful start — was the Flames' empty-netter to seal it. Scoring chances were also relatively scarce: just 23 apiece.
"It's a long season, there's a lot of games, so things happen," defenseman Connor Murphy said. "But it's frustrating just because we feel like we've been home for a bit now and we don't have an excuse [about] being fatigued or being disconnected in any way. We had a good practice yesterday and feel like we should've been better tonight."
The Hawks' special teams — which ranked second-best in the NHL coming in — struggled, allowing both a power-play and a shorthanded goal early. Coach Jeff Blashill noted it's "hard to win games" when you're minus-two in that department.
Blashill implied the Flames' shorthanded goal was actually Connor Bedard's fault: "We knew better than to make that late pass, to be honest with you. That was in the pre-scout. They do step on that forward side, and we kind of played into their hands."pic.twitter.com/l9KcmKtoZZ
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 16, 2026
The Hawks will celebrate the "Banner Years" era of their centennial history Saturday against the Bruins — Duncan Keith and Marian Hossa were already in town and in attendance Thursday — before Jonathan Toews' homecoming with the Jets on Monday.
Those should both be sellouts with more pizzazz.
Levshunov’s workload
Artyom Levshunov isn't planning to go home to Belarus during the Olympic break. But the rookie defenseman will at least escape to South Florida, his adopted American home.
He will need the rest, considering the workload he has shouldered since Christmas. His 19:46 of ice time Thursday marked just the second time in 17 games that he hasn't played 20 minutes. Since Dec. 10, he ranks among the top 50 players in the NHL in total ice time.
He eclipsed 24 minutes Monday against the Oilers for the third time this season, although that was largely because of a ridiculous five-minute, 33-second shift in the second period — one of the longest in modern history. He got stuck on the ice after a power play and just couldn't get off.
"I was feeling a little bit tired, but I felt good — I felt maybe I could stay out a little bit more," Levshunov said jokingly.
There are still plenty of quirks in Levshunov's game. He accidentally yet angrily grabbed an official in a big scrum Thursday, which earned him a roughing penalty. Blashill is clearly letting him learn through experience, though.
Crevier’s milestone
Louis Crevier made his 100th career NHL appearance Thursday, becoming the 38th player from the 2020 draft class to reach that milestone but just the second player taken in the fourth round or later to do so — and he was taken at the beginning of the seventh round.
It's a remarkable accomplishment, considering his long and winding path to the NHL. But at this point, hundreds more appearances seem likely.
Bedard’s bug
The timing of Connor Bedard's stomach bug Monday was unfortunate, sidelining him for the 13th time in the Hawks' last 15 games. With both his injury and his illness now behind him, however, Bedard returned Thursday.
He generated the majority of the Hawks' chances, including Grade-A looks by Andre Burakovsky and Matt Grzelcyk — even though they couldn't cash in. Bedard also attempted seven shots and now has 10 shots on goal in his first three games back.