Sometimes the most lopsided NHL matchups on paper end in surprise. It happens more frequently than it seems like it should.
But sometimes they do go exactly as expected, and the Blackhawks' 4-1 loss Friday against the Avalanche fell in that bucket.
Every factor was working against the Hawks, who were on the second half of a back-to-back set, starting backup goalie Arvid Soderblom and facing the best team in the league.
Soderblom was actually stellar, making 45 saves, but his hard work was pointless in the face of such a relentless Colorado attack on a young and fatigued Hawks defense.
"We didn't have it tonight, and they did," coach Jeff Blashill said. "[The Avalanche] snapped the puck around well. They were skating. We weren't skating. We had too many times where we were standing still, with or without the puck, and then you're in a grind."
The Avalanche finished with absurd advantages in every statistical category: 87-42 in shot attempts, 49-20 in shots on goal and 49-21 in scoring chances.
A whopping 44 of those Avalanche scoring chances came during five-on-five play — the most the Hawks have allowed in a game since March 2019. But the Hawks' penalty kill, which hasn't been nearly as stout since several of its stalwarts were traded, also allowed two goals.
Jeff Blashill on how Nick Lardis fared on the second line tonight:
"He was kind of like the rest of our team, not skating enough and not creating enough. But it was our whole team, so I certainly can’t pin that on him."
"As a group, I didn’t think we were winning enough puck…
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 21, 2026
Lottery implications
The NHL draft lottery will take place May 5, but yet to be determined is each team's odds of landing the No. 1 or No. 2 pick headed in.
The Hawks sit third-to-last in the NHL standings, ahead of only the Canucks and Flames. If they finish there, they would have a 19% chance to get one of those two picks.
It's actually remarkable that they're in roughly the sa
