Artyom Levshunov hits ‘low end of roller coaster’ in Blackhawks’ hideous loss to Penguins

PITTSBURGH — The Blackhawks have had plenty of bad games this season in which they struggled with inconsistency or failed to properly execute their game plan. Games like that are inevitable and somewhat excusable with this roster.

The Hawks’ 6-2 loss Thursday against the Penguins fell in a different and more concerning bucket: their effort was insufficient.

They looked mentally disengaged for 40 minutes, then gave up before the final 20. It was not excusable in the slightest.

“We just fell off the rails,” defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said. “We didn’t show enough response there, and that’s not the team we want to be. It’s a 5-1 game [in the third period] — you can be wanting to get to the next game, but you’ve got to show some response there. And I don’t think we did a good enough job of that.”

Said coach Jeff Blashill: “There are a number of individuals who aren’t feeling it right now, so that hurts your team’s confidence because the individual makeup of your players aren’t as confident. We’ve got to get some swagger back. But the only way to get that back is to earn it.”

Connor Murphy called it a “wake-up call for each guy on our team to know that that can’t happen.”

The defensive pairing of Artyom Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser was especially atrocious. Both posted minus-five ratings.

Levshunov appeared to be acting like a forward during a chaotic shift that led to the Penguins’ go-ahead goal early in the second period, and things only devolved from there.

That pairing was on the ice for three Penguins goals in a four-minute span later in the period. Their shifts were a smorgasbord of poor positioning, poor gap control, poor turnovers, poor reading of plays and no hustle. Kaiser, a bright spot overall this season, had one of his worst outings, but it was Levshunov who was particularly awful.

The Penguins finished the game with a 15-6 advantage in scoring chances during Levshunov’s ice time, marking a new low point in what has been a dreadful multi-week stretch for him — following a dynamic multi-week stretch around New Year’s.

“I didn’t think he played good,” Blashill said. “Obviously, the pairing [had] a tough night. So he’s got to rebound and play better [Friday against the Blue Jackets].

“We understood there was going to be a bit of a roller coaster this year with our ‘D’ core. Tonight, there were certainly moments on the low end of that roller coaster. We’re learning through going through it [with] trial by fire.”

The Penguins, who have been better than expected this season despite an unimpressive roster on paper, have crushed the Hawks 18-5 over their last three meetings. Backup goalie Arvid Soderblom (38 saves on 44 shots) was forced to suffer through the full game Thursday because Spencer Knight will start Friday.

Hawks captain Nick Foligno took only two shifts in the first period due to injury, and Blashill didn’t provide an update on him afterward.

One silver lining: Connor Bedard ripped a garbage-time goal off the back bar, making Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs the first he has beaten since returning from injury.

Bedard had been dangerous but snakebitten recently, so the Hawks will hope that breaks his dam. Blashill called Bedard’s performance “another night where he was really, really good,” excluding him from the team-wide evisceration.

Blashill has cautioned all year these ultra-young Hawks would experience ups and downs, and they’re still on pace to finish with 77 points — a sizable improvement upon their 61 last season. Still, the downs can’t look like they did Thursday.

“You know, when you lose stick battles, lose races and turn pucks over at the blue, you defend a bunch,” Blashill said. “They spread us out and won battles in front. Too many guys weren’t good enough.”