Blackhawks' defense struggles early in post-deadline loss to Canucks

The Blackhawks will try out a couple youngsters in the third-line center role vacated by Jason Dickinson during the stretch run, general manager Kyle Davidson said Friday.

Oliver Moore technically got the first crack at it in a 6-3 loss against the Canucks. Ryan Greene should also get a look at some point.

"[There are] some exciting opportunities for those players to jump into, grab hold of and show that they can perform in," Davidson said.

With the Hawks dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen to lessen the individual burden on each young defenseman, the forward lines ended up being in constant rotation. Still, that's a role Moore believes might suit him well long-term.

"I don't know if this is what they want me to do, but I love shutting other guys down," Moore said Thursday. "I think I could use my speed in those areas defensively and try to press on teams."

Moore's performance was a mixed bag. He got confused about his coverage assignment after losing a defensive-zone faceoff in the first period, and the Canucks scored seconds later. Coach Jeff Blashill mentioned that as one of several "ups and downs."

Three shifts later, however, Moore earned a primary assist on a one-touch pass to set up an pretty Ilya Mikheyev goal.

Moore generated several more scoring chances in the second and third periods, as did the rest of the Hawks. Perhaps the best came off the stick of Hawks debutant Andrew Mangiapane with five minutes left. They finished with a 30-22 advantage in chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

But Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo made a heroic toe save on Mangiapane's look and held the fort until his teammates buried two late empty-netters, securing the Canucks just their third win in 24 games.

Allowing that to happen at the United Center isn't a great look for the Hawks.

"Coming out of the break, we were excellent defensively for four games," Blashill said. "Tonight, we weren’t good enough defensively at all early. It showed. You get down 3-1. After that, we played pretty well; I didn’t think we gave up a whole bunch. But...we can’t expect ourselves to be a team that’s going to win 5-4."

Frank Nazar scored his first goal since Jan. 30 (and his third since Oct. 28). Backup goalie Arvid Soderblom (16 saves on 20 shots) wasn't great in net after Spencer Knight fell ill during the day.

As a team, the Hawks won only 18 of 55 faceoffs, which are going to be a weakness sans Dickinson and Nick Foligno with such a young group of centers.