NEW YORK — The idea of the Blackhawks dressing one of the youngest lineups in modern NHL history is romantic. The reality, at least for now, is less pleasing on the eyes.
The Hawks were shellacked 6-1 by a poor Rangers team Friday, one day after getting routed 5-1 by a mediocre Flyers team.
It was almost as ugly a back-to-back set as the Hawks’ disastrous December weekend in Southern California, when the Kings and Ducks beat them by a combined 13-1.
General manager Kyle Davidson, who has accompanied the team on this East Coast trip, surely hopes the fully developed version of this lineup will fare much better than this fresh-off-the-vine version.
And it likely will, to be fair. But the results this week offer a bitter reminder the Hawks still have a long way to go to become contenders, even if they’ve progressed through one stage of the rebuild and into the next.
With all six defensemen in the lineup 24 or younger and seven of 12 forwards 23 or younger, the Hawks played a solid first period, then fell apart.
‘‘We were in the game,’’ said new alternate captain Tyler Bertuzzi, one of few remaining veterans. ‘‘And then I don’t know what happened in the second and third.
‘‘We’re trying to figure that out ourselves. I don’t know if it’s just such a young team [with] immaturity and we can’t put it together, but it’s on everyone. It’s on us older guys to show the lead and have them follow. As a group — everyone — the last few games, we have not been good at all.’’
Through the first three games of this trip, scoring chances during five-on-five play favor Hawks opponents 130-59 and high-danger chances favor opponents 69-23. Those are lopsided numbers.
The Hawks’ biggest problem Thursday was ill-advised step-ups in the neutral zone leading to odd-man rushes against them. Their biggest problem Friday was succumbing to pressure in the defensive zone and failing to relieve it cleanly.
Fatigue is almost certainly a factor, considering the density of games and lack of practice tim
