‘Angry’ Blackhawks focus on turning things around from Winter Classic

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks were a frustrated and disappointed group after their 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in the Discover NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on Tuesday.

Back at their practice facility on Thursday, their mood wasn’t much better.

“Most of the guys touched on it but yeah, it’s a letdown for the fans that came out, everybody who put it together. For us to do that, it definitely weighs on us pretty big,” defensemen Alex Vlasic said Thursday while the Blackhawks prepared to play the Montreal Canadiens at United Center on Friday (8 p.m. ET; CHSN, TSN2, RDS). “But we’re trying to figure out a way to turn this around and look for some light at the end of the tunnel and some positive things to keep improving on.

“I think for us right now it’s about kind of keeping our nose to the grindstone and really just trying to improve our game and find a way to start winning.”

The Winter Classic was the Blackhawks’ fifth straight loss in regulation. Prior to this skid, Chicago (12-24-2) went on its first three-game winning streak of the season. Outside of that, however, the Blackhawks have struggled under interim coach Anders Sorensen as they did under coach Luke Richardson, who was fired and replaced by Sorensen on Dec. 5.

The Winter Classic was also their third consecutive lopsided loss; they lost 6-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 27, and lost 5-1 to the Dallas Stars on Sunday. In the five-game skid, they have been outscored 27-12.

“I mean, we’ve been embarrassed the last three games, so we’re definitely not going to feel great,” Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones said. “We have to find a way to fix it.”

They started trying to do that again Thursday.

“There's no moving forward without taking the necessary steps in the video room -- going over things, saying, 'This is what's killing us, and this is what's not putting pucks in the net for us,’” forward Jason Dickinson said. “That's where it's going to translate to getting us out of it: Look at it, clear as day, this is what's going on, and then let's work on it, go out there and do the things we're talking about that we can get better.”

The Blackhawks worked on a few things at practice, including some drills along the board and in the corners.

“It was a little bit of everything in that drill,” Sorensen said. “The compete part of it, around those walls, winning those battles and also work a little bit on our D-zone coverage in general.

“On the offensive side of it, there are certain things we need to look at. Getting into those harder areas and finding some of those pucks in those areas. That was a big thing last game again. If you look at the chances, they were even 5-on-5 and they scored four of their goals around our net and we had zero around their net. That’s what the game boils down to.”

Forward Taylor Hall said the Winter Classic loss has “got to be a huge wakeup call (of) just how hard we have to play.”

It's been a tough season for the Blackhawks but there’s still plenty of time left to get on the right page, get some good results.

They’ll keep trying to do that.

“It’s about finding a solution,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “We’re angry obviously, we’re competitors and now it’s, ‘All right, what are we doing to get through it?’ It’s got to be a collective thought in here and that’s all we’re trying to do is focus on, how are we going to come together and get out of this little funk we’re in.

“It’s about putting the work in -- and we did that today -- and having a good, positive attitude. It’s only us that’s going to do it, so get to work.”