NEWARK, N.J — The Chicago Blackhawks came into the Prudential Center with a different look than usual. Their playoff odds are slim, so it’s a good time to experiment.
That’s what Hawks coach Jeff Blashill opted to do Sunday. No. 3 draft pick Anton Frondell got his first NHL reps at center, while the top three lines were shifted around.
With a late-third-period lead, all seemed to be going well. That’s until the New Jersey Devils ripped the joy out of the road team’s bench with two goals in 19 seconds, leaving the Hawks wondering what went wrong.
“I think anytime you lose, you can learn from it,” forward Frank Nazar said. “We’re going to go back, do some video and figure out how to be better and go from there.”
The Hawks ended their four-game trip with a 5-3 loss to the Devils. It was the third straight game they’ve allowed five goals or more and the fourth straight allowing more than 35 shots on goal.
The defense has been difficult to watch, with the trend continuing in New Jersey. Olympic “Golden Goal” scorer Jack Hughes had 19 shot attempts to add to his four-point night — two goals and two assists.
Spencer Knight finished with 35 saves, but he hasn’t been the saving grace that brought the Hawks to their early hot start this season. The players knows they need to make his and Arvid Söderblom’s nights easier.
“The coaches obviously give us a great plan every night, we just got to execute it,” center Ryan Donato said. “It’s more on executing, making the little plays, being sold in our details.”
Added Nazar: “It’s nice to have a guy like Knight in the net behind us. He made a lot of great grade-A saves. Definitely saved our butts again.”
The oldest defensemen on the ice Sunday were the top pair of Louis Crevier and Alex Vlasic, both 24. Blashill was slightly less filtered in batting for his young blueliners.
“Our D could be playing in the NCAA Tournament right now,” Blashill said. “They’re going to make some mistakes, we’re going to have to be patient and they’re going to have to learn.
“We’ve got to keep grinding through and making sure as we go through some of these frustrating moments where we gave up a lead late, that we’re learning. There’s nothing wrong with failure if you learn from it.”
The Hawks were gifted a scoring chance early in the first. Devils goaltender Jake Allen took too long to clear the puck, which Frondell collected and found Ilya Mikheyev at 4:19 for the game’s first goal. Frondell is still looking for his first NHL goal, but he has four assists in his first four games.
“He’s not even a week into his NHL career, playing center against some really good players at times. I thought he looked good,” Blashill said. “He’s really strong on the puck, wins a ton of those stops on pucks. He’s got a lot of winning habits.”
Frondell centered the second line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Mikheyev as his wingers. Nick Lardis skated with Ryan Greene and Connor Bedard on the top line, while Nazar centered the third line with André Burakovsky and Donato.
Nazar scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season, his first career multigoal game.
“Honestly, I loved it,” Nazar said. “(Burakovsky) and Donato were working really hard today and playing really well, (we were) able to connect on a goal and many chances. They’re fun to play with, very easy to read off of, it was good.”
It’s unlikely these lines will stick to finish the season, but it wasn’t a bad debut for the new combinations.
“With Frankie, he knows how to get in the right areas and find ways to score goals and use his speed and get his shot off,” Donato said. “He’s another guy I really enjoy playing with. I think we had some chemistry there tonight.”
Despite the tough stretches, there’s something Blashill doesn’t need to teach the young players: The trust they have in each other.
“I (have) full belief in our team, I think our team can skate with any other team in the league,” Nazar said. “I love these guys, and everybody in here has got the heart and the skill to do it right. Sometimes stuff like that happens, and we’ve got to learn from it.”
Blashill announced pregame that defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who didn’t play, suffered a small fracture in his left hand during the Hawks’ 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday — their lone victory on the trip. Levshunov was scheduled to undergo testing Monday, which will clarify the return timeline for the 2024 No. 2 pick.
The Hawks recalled Kevin Korchinski on Sunday morning to fill in for Levshunov. Korchinski skated on the third pairing with Ethan Del Mastro and saw 12:09 of ice time.
