Anders Sorensen’s first game as the Blackhawks’ interim coach looked very similar to when Luke Richardson was still in charge. There wasn’t enough offense in another loss.
Sorensen became the interim coach after Richardson was fired on Thursday. The 49-year-old Sorensen, who came up from Rockford in the American Hockey League, had only one practice with the team before facing Winnipeg on Saturday.
The Blackhawks had a season-low 14 shots on goal in their fifth straight loss, losing 4-2 to the Jets. In the final two periods, the Blackhawks were shut down by Winnipeg and had only six shots in the last 40 minutes.
“I thought they hemmed us in because they were (taking) a lot of shots and recovering a lot of pucks and we got kind of back on our heels a little bit,” Sorensen said, the first Swedish-born head coach in NHL history. “You know we have to turn around and find pucks constantly. It’s a tough way to play.”
Sorensen had an early problem when goaltender Petr Mrazek left the game in the first period with what appeared to be a groin injury.
“He’ll be out a little bit,” Sorensen said, though he didn’t give a specific timeline.
The Blackhawks used a 2-1-2 defensive setup but often had a defenseman move up into the offense when they brought the puck into the Winnipeg zone. However, they missed many chances.
“We’ve had one practice,” said captain Nick Foligno. “We obviously understand the urgency. It’s just not going to turn around in one day. He wants us to be a real tenacious go-ahead team. You could see that tonight when we were playing on our toes.”
The next game for Chicago is a three-game trip starting Monday against the New York Rangers. The Blackhawks are 4-9-2 on the road this year.
“We’re trying to find our game and understand what we do a little bit better,” Foligno said. “I think the first period we did a lot of good things. We had pace, played the way Anders wants us to play. It’s disappointing we didn’t get the job done.”
