Blackhawks Lose To Stars Despite Arvid Soderblom’s Brilliance

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a rut again as they were outplayed by the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. The 3-1 final score was not a true sign of how badly Chicago was beaten.

Tyler Bertuzzi scored the only goal for Chicago. It was a power-play goal assisted by Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato. Outside of that, the only well-deserved praise goes to Arvid Soderblom.

The Hawks only scored one goal on 26 shots while the Stars put 39 on Soderblom. He only allowed 2 goals on those 39 shots. Once again, he proved to be turning the corner as a goalie in the NHL.

The third Dallas goal was of the empty net variety so they took that aforementioned 3-1 score to the bank. Overall, it was a bad game for Chicago outside of Soderblom’s play.

His record falls to 1-2-1 but his other stats are sparkling. He has a 2.27 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. If Soderblom keeps playing like this, he will eventually be the full-time starter. The ceiling has always been this high for him but he has to continue proving it consistently.

Dallas is a legit threat to win the Stanley Cup so it isn’t surprising to see them dominate games but they completely shut down the Hawks in this one. The Stars had the puck in their offensive zone for most of the game and the shot total is proof.

Are the Hawks as bad as they were last year? Probably not. However, when they play a team like the Stars, they will sometimes look like it. There is a long way to go before they are in the same stratosphere as Dallas.

Soderblom playing well is a good sign, but it wasn’t enough to win. He kept them in it and allowed the power play to get them within one, but that fell flat in the end.

Next up for Chicago is a Sunday evening game against the Minnesota Wild, who have been on fire lately. Most teams that the Hawks play will have a better record, so it is on them to play up to their competition. If they get goaltending like this against the Wild, they will have a chance, but the skaters must be better.

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