Blackhawks finally show life in season-opening loss to Utah: Observations

SALT LAKE CITY — Apparently the Blackhawks needed a full preseason and a stretch of the regular season to get going.

Through the first 20 minutes of Tuesday's season opener against Utah Hockey Club, the Blackhawks looked much the same as they have all preseason. They lacked energy, structure and, above all, offense. The Blackhawks trailed 2-0 and had just three shots on goal in the first period.

There was a lot of panic on social media that it was going to be a long, long season.

And then the Blackhawks showed some life. There was a shift here, a shift there and then it was more consistent. The Blackhawks still lost 5-2 in Utah's first game, with Utah scoring an empty-netter and another goal in the final minute. But the Blackhawks showed more fight, structure and offense as the game progressed and arguably outscored Utah in the final half of the game.

The Blackhawks aren't looking to settle for moral victories this season, but it's something to build on. Chicago's power play needs to get better.

Let's delve further into the game.

Where does Alex Vlasic think he can take a step in his second season? He said Tuesday morning that it was his crime.

“I think I have to keep my defensive game the same as it was last year,” Vlasic said. “I was pretty happy with that and there’s always room to grow. But I think I want to continue to work on my offensive game and get better because I think the more versatile you can be as a player, the better.

“I think I just continue to use my skating and join the rush and kind of create those rush opportunities. I thought I had a few instances last year where I could have done that. I went through a few videos before the season started and tried to figure out where else I could contribute. I think the blue line also has a “shoot first” mentality in the offensive zone. A bit like Brent Burns, how well he brings pucks to the net and plays them quickly and how much that generates in front of the net.”

Just a few hours later, Vlasic contributed to Nick Foligno's goal with his shot at the blue line.

Let's look at Utah's first goal. Utah's Michael Kesselring carries the puck through the neutral zone. Philipp Kurashev reaches for the puck and misses, putting himself out of position and giving Utah easy access. From there, Utah still has room to work. Taylor Hall will likely have to rule out Dylan Guenther, but the Blackhawks are trying to solve the problem. Günther receives the puck and beats the possibly shielded Petr Mrázek.

Utah's second goal was initiated when the Blackhawks' Craig Smith turned over the puck as he attempted to leave the offensive zone.

Finally, let's look at the third one. It's a nice pick in the end, but the Blackhawks didn't touch Utah from breakthrough to draft. It can't be that simple.

The Blackhawks began to show some life in the second period, and the second line of Hall, Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi were a big part of that. The line was fast and aggressive in the second third.

Kurashev in particular had some notable moments during this time, as seen below.

It wasn't an impressive game for Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teräväinen, but they combined to score the Blackhawks' first goal of the season. This came shortly after Bedard became frustrated with himself for failing to complete a Bertuzzi pass.

Bedard tried this too.

A solid debut

Nolan Allan looked solid in his NHL debut. He experienced a difficult transition in the second period where he lost the puck in the attacking zone and lost his footing while trying to defend in transition. Otherwise, Allan didn't look out of place.

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke about Allan's development earlier in the day.

“He just looks really calm out there,” Davidson said. “One of the things about Nolan is that he plays a calm, solid game and he has continued to develop that. He plays within himself with his game. He doesn't try to do too much; he doesn't beat himself. That's a great quality for a defender. He’s earned the trust of the coaching staff and that’s not an easy task for a young defender, so he’s earned a spot in the opening lineup and we’ll see where it goes.”

The plan for strikers

As expected, Lukas Reichel and Andreas Athanasiou were the healthy scratches at the start of the season. With Reichel, it's obvious that the Blackhawks won't give him much of an impact this season.

“For Lukas, when he’s in the lineup, it’s his job and he’s been around long enough to know that he has to play well enough to keep that spot,” Davidson said. “When he's not in the lineup, he's got to work and get to the point where when an opportunity comes, he's going to step in and take advantage of it. He's been around enough to know what to do in whatever situation he finds himself in, so we're assuming he'll do that too.

“He has to show a certain way and play and practice and have the habits that when it's in practice he shows he deserves to be in the lineup and when he's in the lineup he's playing in a certain way that we expect from him.” Will keep a place. It’s in his hands…when the opportunity presents itself, he’ll make the most of it.”

Richardson was asked if he planned to rotate his forwards at 14 this season.

“It will come down to play and health,” Richardson said. “If someone doesn't perform well, we now have a little more depth so we don't have to stay on a long leash with everyone. These guys have speed, good young talent. If someone doesn’t perform, those people are substituted.”

Player updates

Davidson didn't have much to say about Laurent Brossoit and Artyom Levshunov. He expected both of them to return sometime this month.

“It was always Brossoit, maybe a little before Arty, and there is no information to change that,” Davidson said.

CHSN broadcasts

Tuesday's game was shown on ESPN, giving Chicago Sports Network a few more days before its first broadcast of the regular season. But heading into Friday's game, there's still no guarantee that CHSN will be anywhere other than where it is now.

As a reminder, if you're in the market, you can currently receive CHSN over-the-air with a digital antenna and through pass services on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-verse, and Astound.

Nothing is final yet. If you're hoping to see CHSN on YouTube TV, it's unlikely to happen. YouTube TV doesn't seem interested in adding regional sports channels.

CHSN will likely be on Comcast. It's just unclear whether it will happen by Friday evening. The two sides have been negotiating and are expected to continue negotiating this week.

This is something we will be following all week. CHSN needs to know that Friday is an important date.

(Photo of Utah's Josh Doan skating against Chicago's Philipp Kurashev: Rob Gray / Imagn Images)