Jeff Blashill called the Blackhawks' 4-1 loss at Detroit Thursday night a step backwards, pointing at players who weren't skating.
Detroit controlled the result, and Viktor Arvidsson did most of the damage with three goals and an assist. He put six shots on net in 17:07.
Lucas Raymond added the power-play goal that went down as the game-winner. Chicago finished with one goal, and it came from its best-known skater.
Going in, the Blackhawks sat at 4-9-0 with 27 goals for and 48 against, a goal differential of -21. Those numbers are from before Thursday's game, so the hole is now deeper.
Here is how the recent games have gone for Chicago.
Ben Pope shared the most telling part of Blashill's postgame message, and the head coach was clearly upset by what he saw.
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Blashill said the team had played games where it did "a lot of good things and maybe beat ourselves with critical mistakes." Thursday, he said, wasn't that at all.
That distinction matters. Mistakes can be coached out of a lineup. A group that isn't skating raises a harder question about effort, and coaches rarely say that out loud unless they've run out of patience.
Chicago was also winless away from home before this one, sitting at 0-5-0 on the road. The next chance to change that is Saturday, October 31, at Boston.
Blackhawks' skating problem puts more pressure on Kyle Davidson
The front office isn't a bystander here. Kyle Davidson's search for scoring wingers was already in the news before this game, and a loss like this only sharpens that need.
Connor Bedard scored and fired four shots on goal in 18:22. One goal on 19 Detroit shots allowed is a fine night for a goalie, but Chicago still needed more from everyone else.
In the other crease, Spencer Knight stopped 27 of 30 shots and took the loss. Three goals against doesn't point the finger at him when the coach is talking about legs.
Wyatt Kaiser logged a team-high 22:36 on the blue line and went minus-1. Roman Kantserov had an assist and was also a -1. Heavy minutes didn't help the cause.
Blashill was already part of the conversation when Jeff Blashill landed on Daily Faceoff's hot-seat list last week. Publicly calling out his own players is a gamble that only works if the effort changes in Boston.
If it doesn't, who does the next message get aimed at?
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Is Jeff Blashill's public criticism the right move for a Blackhawks team sitting at 4-9-0 before this loss?
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