Blackhawks allow 8 unanswered goals in loss to Coyotes

10 observations: Blackhawks allow 8 unanswered goals in loss to Coyotes originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks allowed eight unanswered goals in a 8-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday at Mullet Arena.

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

1. Connor Bedard scored 28 seconds into the game for his fourth goal of the season, but Kevin Korchinski deserves some serious praise for the pass. It was a thing of beauty, and Bedard recognized it too by pointing to him immediately after celebrating the goal. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, it was the only highlight of the night.

2. The Blackhawks allowed eight unanswered goals the rest of the way, including three in the first period. Things unraveled quickly, and it didn’t help that there were some questionable no-calls and bad breaks throughout the night. Nothing went their way.

3. Ryan Donato is going to lose sleep over this missed opportunity in the first period that would’ve put his team ahead 2-1. It looked like Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram got him near the hands. Donato put his hands in the air wondering where the penalty was but he didn’t get one.

4. After Arizona went ahead 3-1, Nick Foligno and Liam O’Brien dropped the gloves right off the faceoff. I’m not sure how O’Brien didn’t get an instigator penalty. Foligno was not expecting a fight, but he reacted quickly after realizing he was getting jumped. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson was irate on the bench. It was O’Brien, too, who tripped Seth Jones that immediately led to Arizona’s second goal, which went uncalled. Rough night for the officials.

5. Michael Carcone scored one of the most bizarre hat-trick goals you’ll see. In fact, nobody knew it was actually his goal until after the fact, so there were no hats thrown onto the ice.

6. Arvid Söderblom was between the pipes for the first time in nine days after Petr Mrazek started the last two games. He made a few great saves, but his stat line was night great, allowing seven goals on 22 shots before being pulled for Mrazek, who entered in relief in the latter stages of the second period.

7. The Coyotes generated 19 high-danger chances during 5-on-5 action, according to Natural Stat Trick. It’s the most they Blackhawks have given up in a game this season. Their highest last season was 23.

8. Alex Vlasic was sent back to Chicago and placed in concussion protocol after leaving Friday’s game with an injury. Tough news, because he’s been one of the team’s best defensemen in the early part of this season.

9. Isaak Phillips was recalled and slotted in Vlasic’s place on the second pairing with Connor Murphy. I thought he was fine, although he did commit two penalties. He could probably be a full-time NHL player, but the Blackhawks don’t want him to be a seventh defenseman in the NHL. They want him to play in all situations in Rockford if everyone with the NHL club is healthy.

10. Korchinski has played nine NHL games this season. The next game he appears in will be his 10th, which means the first year of his entry-level contract will be burned. All signs point to that happening, although it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The real question is, does he hit the 40-game mark? If he does, it would count as a full NHL season and it would bring him one year closer to unrestricted free agency. Any player that’s accrued seven full seasons or is at least 27 years old as of June 30 of that respective year is eligible to become a UFA.

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