The Chicago Blackhawks are set to return their home ice on Wednesday night. They will take on the New York Rangers in their first matchup of the season with this Original Six rival.
Chicago is back home following a four game road trip out west. They played the Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings twice on the trip.
The Blackhawks went 1-2-1 for three points out of eight during this stretch, so they are looking for a nice rebound once they return home. The last two games, Los Angeles and Anaheim, were blowout losses so a bounce-back performance is much needed.
There is a lot we learned about the Hawks while they were on the road. These are the five biggest takeaways:
Connor Bedard will show up and produce no matter what
Over the four game losing streak that mostly went bad for Chicago, Bedard had two goals and one assist. Despite a lousy effort from most of his teammates, Bedard brought his best at a high intensity level.
Bedard is one of the best players in the NHL right now and he's only going to get better. There will be wins and there will be losses. There will be good road trips and bad homestands. Through it all, it is fair to expect the superstar on the team to always be producing offense, which will give them a chance to win on most nights.
The Blackhawks have tremendous respect for Anze Kopitar
After Chicago's second game of the trip against the Los Angeles Kings, the entire team waited to shake hands with their captain Anze Kopitar.
Although it didn't involve many active players on either team, Kopitar and the Kings had some intense battles with the Blackhawks over the years. The two teams won a combined five Stanley Cups in the 2010s. They also battled each other in a handful of Western Conference Finals through those runs.
It is obvious that even the new players recognize that and made sure to honor one of Chicago's all time greatest playoff foes.
The second half of back-to-backs are a problem
The Chicago Blackhawks have played in two sets of back-to-backs now. In each of them, they were blown out. They lost 9-3 to the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the year and this trip's bad loss to the Anaheim Ducks to end it.
The one against the Sabres felt like an anomaly at the time, but it can't be ignored that it happened again when they faced the same situation against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Back-to-backs are a part of the NHL and teams must perform well in those games. Jeff Blashill and his staff must work on a way to fix this issue.
Sam Rinzel has a long way to go before he’s an NHL star
On Monday, the Chicago Blackhawks sent Sam Rinzel (and Landon Slaggert) to the AHL for some work. For Rinzel, this is a good opportunity for him to gain his confidence back, impact games in a bigger way, and get more ice time.
During the road trip, Rinzel had a couple of tough plays that led to goals for the opposition. These games forced the team to do something they didn't want to do, which was part ways with him to the AHL for now.
Rinzel showed signs of being an NHL star late last year and early this year, but has hit a bit of a rookie wall. He has a long way to go before becoming an elite player, but the tools are there for him to be successful. This stint in the AHL will be great for him in the long-term.
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