CHICAGO \u2014 Connor Murphy knows a thing or two about losing streaks. Since he arrived in Chicago in the dimming afterglow of the Stanley Cup years, the Blackhawks defenseman has endured a whopping 56 losing streaks of at least three games over his first eight seasons \u2014 28 of them in the last three years alone. Thirty-seven of those lasted at least four games, 19 of them in the last three seasons. There have been embarrassing losing streaks during which the Blackhawks were utterly overwhelmed. There have been frustrating losing streaks during which all the breaks go against them. And there have been dispiriting losing streaks during which the Blackhawks felt like they deserved better.<\/p>\n
Sad as it sounds, they used to cling to those. A good period here, a good period there. A decent effort. Something, anything. It was all they had, really.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, that was looked at as almost acceptable, maybe,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n
Not anymore. The bar, at long last, has been raised in Chicago, but the Blackhawks haven\u2019t been meeting it. So what if they played 60 strong minutes against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche on Sunday? They lost, 1-0<\/a>. And so what if they had perhaps their best start of the season against the red-hot Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night? They lost 4-3 in overtime.<\/p>\n Pretty good is no longer good enough.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, it\u2019s, \u2018No, we know what team we can be and what we\u2019re capable of,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cSo we need to push out of our comfort zone to make sure we\u2019re pushing to be the team that wins those games, versus the team that says, \u2018We played pretty well for the most of it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Blackhawks aren\u2019t despondent about four straight losses. Nor are they furious with themselves. Rather than sulk or spiral, there\u2019s a defiance that\u2019s brewing among the younger players instead. It\u2019s a subtle, but significant distinction. Even those who haven\u2019t been around for the years of misery can sense it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a different feeling around here, I think,\u201d first-year Blackhawks defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said. \u201cNow, it\u2019s like, \u2018Let\u2019s get back to work.\u2019 We know we have the game to play with anyone. We can get back on track pretty quick. Everyone\u2019s still very confident. \u2026 Everyone\u2019s been in a good mood. We just trust that good things will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n There was some palpable frustration in the Blackhawks dressing room after they squandered a 2-0 lead for the third time in their last five games on Wednesday night. Connor Bedard, who had a goal and an assist, blamed himself for losing Matt Boldy on the Wild\u2019s second third-period equalizer. Artyom Levshunov lamented defensive mistakes despite a stellar offensive performance that included his first NHL goal. And coach Jeff Blashill warned against letting a coincidence turn into a trend \u2014 or, worse, a habit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had 18 chances against a really good defensive team,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cShame on us if we don\u2019t come with the same effort on Friday (against Nashville).\u201d<\/p>\n For the first time in ages, there\u2019s no reason to think these Blackhawks won\u2019t. What makes this four-game losing streak different than all the others is that there really isn\u2019t much concern. Consternation, sure, but not concern. More than a quarter of the way into this season, we still don\u2019t know if this is really a playoff team or not, but we know it\u2019s not some doormat, some weak-willed pushover. Even in a come-from-ahead defeat, that was evident.<\/p>\n Just go back to before Ilya Mikheyev was called for an iffy-at-best interference call in overtime \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s not interference,\u201d Blashill said bluntly \u2014 that led to Kirill Kaprizov\u2019s game-winner. The mood was quite different then, back in the late second period. The rout was on, and the United Center roof was coming loose.<\/p>\n a Bedard beauty\ud83e\udd29 pic.twitter.com\/0a2XFqXAVg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Tyler Bertuzzi had just buried a Bedard rebound to give the Blackhawks a 3-0 lead in the second period, just four minutes after Bedard scored one of the team\u2019s prettiest goals in recent memory. Chicago was running the Wild \u2014 a team that came in at 9-1-1 in November and coming off two straight shutout victories \u2014 out of the building. A holiday crowd of nearly 19,000 was lapping it up, fully engaged from the first note of the national anthem, oohing and ahhing with every scoring chance \u2014 even screaming their heads off during a stoppage poll in which they voted stuffing the best Thanksgiving food over worthy contenders like mac-and-cheese and mashed potatoes. Happy Holidays, indeed.<\/p>\n It was perhaps the best 40 consecutive minutes the Blackhawks had put together all season.<\/p>\n Well, 39 minutes and 45 seconds, at least.<\/p>\n The Bertuzzi goal was overturned because the Blackhawks entered the zone offside. Then Brock Faber\u2019s flip from the point hit Bertuzzi\u2019s skate and fluttered past Spencer Knight with 14 seconds left in the period. Suddenly, that 3-0 lead was a 2-1 lead, and the Wild, which had nearly a full power play to start the third, tied things up at 2:15 on a Nico Sturm goal.<\/p>\n The Blackhawks didn\u2019t fold. Just three minutes after Sturm\u2019s goal, Bedard found Levshunov in the right circle. Nine out of 10 defensemen immediately shoot it right there, but Levshunov is anything but typical, so he held the puck, moved to the net and lifted a backhander past Filip Gustavsson to take the lead right back at 3-2. That Levshunov\u2019s mom and brother were in town to see it made it sweeter.<\/p>\n thankful for Arty’s first NHL goal\ud83e\udd79\ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/rvEnsWOw9M<\/a><\/p>\n