Blackhawks encouraged by third-period play in overtime loss to Jets

The Blackhawks felt like they righted their ship at home Tuesday after capsizing on their road trip, but their overtime weakness prevented them from translating it into a win.

Jets star Kyle Connor's game-winning goal sent the Hawks to a 4-3 overtime loss — their fourth consecutive defeat — and dropped their record in overtime/shootout games this season to 7-14.

"We haven't been good enough three-on-three, so that's frustrating for all of us," coach Jeff Blashill said. "But the process we had through lots of that game was really good."

The Hawks are running low on time to get to 30 wins, a reasonable target for their step forward this year. They have 27 wins with seven games left. A few more overtime victories obviously would've made a difference.

The Hawks were solid in the first period and terrible in the second Tuesday, following a similar pattern as in recent games. They broke that pattern with one of their best third periods of the season, though, rallying back from a 3-1 deficit to at least earn a point.

The forward line of rookie Anton Frondell and veteran Tyler Bertuzzi (plus Ilya Mikheyev) scored all three goals, including the equalizer with 10:14 left.

Frondell earned his first goal in the NHL, and Bertuzzi now leads the team with a new career high of 31 goals. Nonetheless, Frondell also made defensive misreads on the Jets' first and last goals.

Injury updates

Hawks defensemen Artyom Levshunov and Matt Grzelcyk are out for the season, Blashill said. They won’t return from their injuries before the season finale April 15.

For Grzelcyk (upper-body injury), this probably marks the end of his one-year tenure with the Hawks. He panned out well as a training-camp tryout, providing steady depth. He had 12 assists but didn’t score in 69 appearances.

For Levshunov (left hand), his tumultuous rookie season — which somehow yielded many encouraging and discouraging indications about his future potential at the same time — is over.

Forward Andrew Mangiapane, who missed his seventh consecutive game, will likely return this season. He skated individually Monday.

Sacha Boisvert also sat out as a healthy scratch after making his first three NHL appearances on the recent road trip. Blashill clarified Boisvert won’t ‘‘play every single game, but he’ll play a good number of them’’ down the stretch.

Toews’ question

Mediocre play from all the teams on the Western Conference playoff bubble has allowed the Jets to climb back into the race, which means former Hawks captain Jonathan Toews’ attention is squarely focused on that right now.

The big question for him is whether he will play again next season, but an answer on that front is unlikely to come until the Jets’ hopes are dashed.

There was less pomp and circumstance for Toews’ second game back in Chicago than there was for his first Jan. 19, but he still received a loud round of applause during "O Canada" and another during his first shift.

New builder

Beloved former Hawks player and broadcaster Troy Murray, who died March 7 of cancer, was added to the inaugural class of the Blackhawks Hall of Fame.

Murray will be inducted as a ‘‘builder,’’ a category also used by the Hockey Hall of Fame to recognize people who substantially contributed to the game off the ice.

Eleven other former players — the nine with retired jerseys, plus Duncan Keith and Steve Larmer — make up the rest of the inaugural class, which will be inducted April 10 and then honored April 11 against the Blues.