The Chicago Blackhawks are limping to the finish line after showing few positive signs in their third season since selecting superstar center Connor Bedard first overall in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Heading into their matchup on Sunday against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., the Blackhawks have been outscored 11-2 in back-to-back losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, keeping them last in the Central Division.
The Flyers are three points out of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot entering play Sunday. The Rangers were the first conference team eliminated from postseason contention when they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, two days before they beat the visiting Blackhawks 6-1 to end a six-game losing streak.
Chicago (27-33-13, 67 points) had seven rookies in the lineup against the Rangers.
“We have a whole bunch of guys going through the NHL schedule for the first time, much less this condensed schedule,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “It’s a hard challenge for a group that’s as young as we are, but we’ve got to respond to the challenge. We’ve got to take these opportunities to grow and get better.”
The losses to the Flyers and Rangers came on back-to-back nights, the third time since March 8 that the Blackhawks played on consecutive days.
Blashill said fatigue has become a factor.
“You can kind of tell when teams are in a grind a little bit, but I think right now everybody is,” Blashill said. “Part of fatigue is learning how to play smart. We just got to learn to play a little smarter when we’re tired.”
Tyler Bertuzzi said the responsibility of finishing the season strong falls on all the players, rookies and veterans alike.
“I don’t know if it’s just such a young team, immaturity and we can’t put it together, but it’s on everyone,” Bertuzzi said. “It’s on us older guys to show the lead and have them follow. As a group, everyone, the last few games, we have not been good at all.”
Neither the Blackhawks nor the Devils (37-33-2, 76 points) have officially been eliminated from the playoffs, but it’s on the radar.
New Jersey is coming off a 5-2 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday in the finale of a five-game road trip (3-2-0).
Carolina beat the Devils in five games in the first round of the playoffs last season and won all four meetings between the teams this season.
Devils forward Connor Brown said the lack of success against Carolina has frustrated New Jersey and it spilled over into Saturday’s game.
“Some emotions got high and were just handled poorly throughout the game,'” Brown said. “Hockey’s an emotional game. You’re playing at such a high speed. It’s violent. When you have scars against a team, sometimes it can be that much harder to manage. So, it’s a big learning moment for this team. To learn, you have to identify what’s going wrong.”
Jake Allen likely will start in goal for the Devils after Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves against the Hurricanes.
Allen has won two of his past three starts and gave up just one goal on 27 shots in the 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals.
He’s 12-7-4 in his career against the Blackhawks with a .922 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against average.
