After trading veteran defenseman Connor Murphy to the Edmonton Oilers, the Chicago Blackhawks rolled out an uber-young defensive corps against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, with Matt Grzelcyk being the only one of the six who’s older than 24.
In the first game of the season without Murphy, the Blackhawks and their inexperienced blue line held up surprisingly well defensively, especially through 40 minutes. Winnipeg was credited with just nine scoring chances after two periods, and only one was registered as a high-danger opportunity.
Considering that Artyom Levshunov (73 games), Sam Rinzel (41 games), and Ethan Del Mastro (28 games), making up half of the defensemen in the lineup, had all played fewer than one full season’s worth of NHL games, their strong start to Tuesday’s tilt was notable.
Sadly, some of that inexperience played a part in the game ending on a sour note, as the Blackhawks blew a one-goal lead in the final minute of regulation en route to a painful 3-2 overtime loss. Instead of continuing to be aggressive after grabbing the lead early in the third period, the Blackhawks sat back and tried to run out the clock, which proved to be a foolish decision.
Winnipeg ended up tying the game 2-2 with 38.6 seconds remaining in the period, and the play stemmed from one of several times where the Blackhawks iced the puck, rather than trying to work an effective breakout. Sure, there are moments where clearing the puck out of harm’s way is the proper decision. But they were being unnecessarily passive far too often, and for far too long, in the third, and it eventually burned them.
As frustrating as it was to watch, the hope is that this will serve as another learning moment for the young group on how to finish games. Or, how NOT to, in this sense. Holding onto late leads has been a problem all season, and it’s not going to get any easier with Murphy out of the picture.
Speaking of learning, there was plenty of that happening regarding the “new-look” defense without Murphy moving forward. Tuesday was the first opportunity to see how head coach Jeff Blashill envisions his blue line for the final 21 games of the year, and there was plenty to dissect for all six defensemen.
Let’s break it down, and then get into some more tidbits from Tuesday’s loss to the Jets.
1. Defensive Roles — The Blackhawks’ top two defensive pairings remained the same from Sunday’s shutout win over the Utah Mammoth. Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier skated as the top pairing, while Grzelcyk and Levshunov were the second pairing. The third pairing is where some changes were made.
In place of Murphy, Rinzel was fortunately feeling well enough to return after missing the previous two games due to an illness. Joining Rinzel as his partner was the newly recalled Ethan Del Mastro, who was brought up from the minors on Tuesday morning, bringing the NHL roster to seven defensemen again. During Rinzel’s recent AHL stint over the Olympic break, he frequently played alongside Del Mastro on the Rockford IceHogs’ top pairing.
Before getting traded, Murphy was a prime minute-muncher in defensive situations for the Blackhawks. His departure left a void that needed to be filled, and Blashill, unsurprisingly, relied heavily on the Vlasic-Crevier pairing to play in the defensive zone. Vlasic (22) and Crevier (10) were first and second, respectively, on the team in defensive-zone faceoffs on Tuesday. They were also Nos. 1 and 2 in short-handed ice time among defensemen.
Offensively, it was the Grzelcyk-Rinzel duo that received most of the opportunities. Levshunov also got his fair share, although a vast majority occurred when he was quarterbacking the top power-play unit. At even strength, Blashill preferred the second pairing in the offensive zone.
There was only one real shorthanded opportunity for the Blackhawks on Tuesday, but serving as the defensemen on the second penalty-kill unit were Levshunov and Grzelcyk. Without Murphy, and with Wyatt Kaiser still on injured reserve, two of the more offensive-minded blue-liners were asked to step up with the team down a man.
2. Ice Time Leaders — With Vlasic taking on an increased role as the Blackhawks shutdown, No. 1 defensive defensemen, it wasn’t shocking to see him rack up a season-high 25:47 of ice time on Tuesday. He’ll likely play over 22 minutes per game most nights for the remainder of the season.
Second on the team in ice time against Winnipeg was Rinzel, who’s 22:19 of ice time was the fifth-most he’s played in 41 games this year. Only one of those four games in which he played more than Tuesday has occurred since October, where he opened the season on the top pairing with Vlasic.
Crevier was third with 20:13 of ice time, which was the sixth-most he’s played in an NHL game in 2025-26. It was just the eighth occasion where Crevier has recorded more than 20 minutes, with seven coming since the start of the New Year.
3. What’s The Plan For KK? — With Del Mastro drawing into the lineup, that meant that Kevin Korchinski was healthy scratched on Tuesday. On one side, without Murphy and Kaiser, the Blackhawks needed more of a defensive defenseman, like Del Mastro, rather than Korchinski.
On the other hand, the kid is a former top-10 draft pick, and not to mention the first selection Kyle Davidson ever made as the full-time general manager in 2022. Korchinski is still only 21 years old, and he’s played in just 20 NHL games since being rushed to the professional level at 19 in 2023-24. He hasn’t been given much of a chance at all to prove that he can be a full-time big-leaguer after developing in the minors the last two years.
It appears as if the Blackhawks already have their minds made up about Korchinski, as he’s yet to receive more than 14:04 of ice time in any of his four appearances this season. Del Mastro played 15:14 on Tuesday in just his third NHL game of the year and seems to be trusted more by the coaching staff.
If Korchinski cannot crack Chicago’s lineup consistently at this point, it’s hard to see it ever happening. Considering his upside as a seventh overall draft pick not too long ago, he should be getting all the chances in the world, especially on a Blackhawks team that’s not pushing for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot. For whatever reason, he isn’t, and it could be time to ponder a change-of-scenery move.
4. Power Play Potent Again — Don’t look now, but the Blackhawks have scored a power-play goal in all four of their games since the Olympic break. It’s been a very pleasant change of pace after going just 1-for-33 in their final 12 games before the break.
After a penalty by Rinzel negated the first power-play chance of the night, the Blackhawks made sure not to waste their second one, which was a double-minor four-minute advantage after Vlasic was clipped with a highstick by Gabriel Vilardi.
While Vilardi was in the sin bin, Chicago’s top power-play unit cycled the puck effectively in the offense zone and generated three scoring chances in the final 2:19 of the first period. With just over one minute remaining, Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar made two terrific passes, setting up Teuvo Teravainen in the slot for his sixth power-play goal of the year.
Through their first four games back, the Blackhawks power play is now 4-for-16 and is now 18th in the NHL at 19.7 percent. Prior to the break, their man advantage had dipped from top-ten in the league all the way down to 21st.
5. Teuvo Time — Speaking of Teuvo, he’s now recorded a point in four games in a row since returning from Milan, where he helped Finland win the Bronze Medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Teravainen has five points during his four-game point streak, and all five have come via special teams. He’s been a huge part of the power play’s recent success, with two goals and two assists. “Turbo” also scored the Blackhawks’ fifth short-handed goal as a team in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Utah.
It’s been tremendous to see Teravainen find his footing again after the Olympics, as he was in the midst of a horrendous stretch of the play in the final month leading up to the break. However, there’s still more to be desired from the veteran winger at even strength.
Through 54 games this season, Teravainen has only recorded 11 points at even strength. He has only one even-strength goal in 16 games since the calendar flipped to 2026, while his last even-strength assist came all the way back on Nov. 20.
He’s played a major role in the power play rekindling its from from the first half of the year, but he’s still been lackluster at 5-on-5 for way too long of a stretch.
For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now and like our Facebook Page.
Follow us on X:
@chihockeynow, @JackBushman2
