Carelessness creeps into Blackhawks' game in loss to Bruins

The Blackhawks let an early lead slip away Saturday in a 5-2 loss to the Bruins, suffering their fourth consecutive home defeat.

With nearly every member of the 2010, 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup teams filling up suites in the corner of the United Center, one's thoughts couldn't help but drift to how methodical and stifling those teams were once they acquired a lead.

The ultra-young 2025-26 Hawks haven't yet learned that skill. Only the Mammoth have suffered more regulation losses than the Hawks' eight after scoring first.

Coach Jeff Blashill identified "a little bit of carelessness, not a lot," in the Hawks' play. They've scored just five goals in these last four home losses, and there were more than a few groan-inducing passes to nobody Saturday.

"When you’re pressing instead of taking what’s given to you, you’re hoping there’s an extra play because you want to score," Blashill added. "Yes, we haven’t scored, and it’s been hard for us to score. But when we’ve found success, we took what was given."

The season has been laden with hot and cold stretches, and the Hawks are clearly in one of the latter right now. Connor Bedard's return hasn't yielded much fruit, even though he has generated plenty of chances himself.

Ryan Greene and Wyatt Kaiser scored two minutes apart to give them a 2-0 lead after the first period. The resurgent Bruins responded with five unanswered goals, using pinpoint passing to take advantage of some ugly turnovers and defensive breakdowns — as well as a subpar start by backup goalie Arvid Soderblom.

"We were playing very predictable, and now it seems like we're trying to make one extra move or one extra play," Jason Dickinson said.

More chaos

When rookie defenseman Arty Levshunov broke through to a new level earlier this winter, he was attacking the game with confidence.

Blashill believes Levshunov is still doing that. Indeed, he used his skating ability to singlehandedly lead a couple breakouts Saturday. But he committed some costly blunders, too. The Bruins outshot the Hawks 16-4 and outscored them 2-1 during his ice-time.

"If he’s going to attack the game, he has to make sure he’s not giving up goals," Blashill said. "You can’t give up easy chances while you’re doing that. I don’t think it’s one or the other. He can do both. But he’s 20 years old and he’s trying to figure that out."

Alumni takeover

The cast of Hawks alumni who returned to the United Center for the pregame "Banner Years" ceremony was impressive, ranging from stars like Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp to fan favorites like Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Shaw to depth players who spent only a few months in Chicago.

It looked like the ceremony might get derailed when a drape caught on the scoreboard — it didn't want to give up its great view of the Cup on display, perhaps — but someone rappelled down to remove it, just in time for a speech by former broadcaster Eddie Olczyk.

A sellout crowd of 20,388 enjoyed the trip down memory lane, and another large crowd is expected Monday for Jonathan Toews' return with the Jets.

Next step

Frank Nazar, who has missed 13 games and counting due to a broken jaw, took the next step in his recovery Saturday, participating in morning skate in a non-contact jersey.

Blashill said Nazar is expected to take another step Sunday by participating in practice, implying it's possible he could return in a week or so.

At the dot

Faceoffs, as expected, haven't been a Hawks strength this season. That's inevitable with such a young group of centers. They're tied for 26th with a 47.2% faceoff winning percentage.

It could be worse, though. This is actually their highest faceoff ranking in three years. Rookie Ryan Greene managing to be competent in the circle is part of that. He has won 46.1% of 527 faceoffs this season, including 52.1% of 146 in January. He took a whopping 21 on Saturday, winning 10.

"[I'm] learning new things as you go along," Greene said. "[That's from] going against a lot of guys who are really good at faceoffs and seeing what they do, and watching some video on it."

Greene also finally snapped his scoring drought against goalies Saturday, beating Boston's Joonas Korpisalo from the slot right after a power play ended. His ensuing celebration was smooth enough to suggest he had been waiting for a while to use it — since Nov. 30, to be specific.