Young Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic enjoyed a fantastic first four months of the season. He proved he can be a poised, versatile, legitimate top-pairing stalwart for the franchise for years to come.
But few first NHL seasons pass by without any adversity. Vlasic has discovered that in February, a tough month for him and the Hawks — who lost 3-1 to the Flyers on Wednesday to fall to 1-5-1 this month.
It’s hard to maintain one’s highest level over a full 82-game schedule, and the 22-year-old’s play has dipped a bit in recent weeks.
“It’s just [about] being consistent,” Vlasic said. “You hear that over and over again about what it takes to be a good pro. You can play well for half the year, but if you’re not able to play well the whole year, it doesn’t really matter. Because there’s guys that are good enough . . . to succeed the whole 82-game stretch. That’s part of coming into the league, too.”
For much of the winter, Vlasic seemed to have the Midas touch, cleaning up his teammates’ messes all around the ice with stout defensive plays and savvy breakout passes. From Nov. 24 through Feb. 7, opponents scored five-on-five goals against him in only nine of 31 games.
Lately, he has been slightly more turnover- and mistake-prone — nothing extreme, but more on par with the rest of the Hawks. During his five-on-five ice time, opponents have scored against him in four of the last five games and produced a massive 66-23 cumulative scoring-chance advantage.
On Wednesday, the Flyers’ first goal deflected in off his stick — an unlucky break more than anything. Later in the first period, with the Hawks swamped for a long defensive-zone shift, he failed to get the puck out on a must-clear opportunity, forcing goalie Arvid Soderblom to have to bail him out.
Granted, these miscues are only noticeable because he’s put in so many tough situations, defending far superior opponents, and also because they’re uncharacteristic for him. Fellow defensemen Jarred Tinordi and Isaak Phillips have committed miscues far more regularly than Vlasic this season, but theirs have become almost routine.
And there’s a silver lining to this adversity. Vlasic describes the No. 1 lesson he has learned since the season opener as “not really worrying about a mistake or a bad game here and there.” Building up that mental fortitude should benefit him down the road.
“If you look across the league every night, you’re going to see [defensemen] on the highlight reels being danced,” he said. “It’s going to happen to everybody, and you have to get that out of your mind.
“For me, when I was younger, that was a big thing that held me back sometimes. If I had a bad game or two, it was affecting me for a long time. Now I’m just getting better at erasing one mistake, one bad game, and just trying to move on to the next one. Because you play so often, it’s not really worth trying to dwell on the past.”
He improved as the game progressed, too, stripping Sean Couturier along the boards and clearing the defensive zone during one second-period shift, then rushing end-to-end for a solid scoring chance of his own in the third period.
Coach Luke Richardson jumbled the defensive pairs in the latter half of a second consecutive game, putting Kevin Korchinski (instead of Vlasic) next to Seth Jones for some offensive-zone shifts, but his efforts to create a spark never paid off.
“We created as many good chances as [the Flyers], but, unfortunately, they got a couple through, and we couldn’t find a rebound at the end,” Richardson said. “We’re back at that stage where we’re having trouble getting that second goal again.”
