Here are four takeaways from the Blackhawks' 6-5 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Thursday:
1. Back and forth first period
There's good news and bad news about the Blackhawks' first period: The bad news is, they allowed two goals again, one in the first two minutes of the game. The good news is, they responded to both of them and exited the opening frame evened up at 2-2 against one of the most prolific offenses in the NHL.
The quick strikes certainly need to get cleaned up, but the Blackhawks didn't put themselves behind the 8-ball in this one and made sure to respond before the Jets could pile on. That's a start.
2. Two goals in 45 seconds changes complexion
While the first period was one the Blackhawks were probably more encouraged with than previous games, the start of the second wasn't so great. They gave up two goals in 45 seconds to open the period and when you get down two goals, that's where you find yourself chasing, which the Blackhawks have been looking to avoid.
The Blackhawks responded with one of their own, but they could never catch up to the Jets, who answered every time and stiff-armed the Blackhawks all night by bending but not breaking.
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To make matters worse, the Blackhawks allowed a goal within the first two minutes in all three periods, and haven't led at any point in five straight games — since Nov. 18 against the Minnesota Wild when they scored the first two goals and won 3-1. They're not doing themselves any favors in that department.
3. The Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine Show
After coming off a 44-goal sophomore season, the expectation going into this season was that Laine would reach 50 and possibly flirt with 60 if things broke the right way. But he scored only three goals in his first 12 games, and that quieted down quickly.
And then November happened. In 12 games this month, Laine finished with 18 goals, including 13 in his past six games and a five-goal effort against the St. Louis Blues. He has 101 career NHL goals in 179 games for a goals-per-game average of 0.56. That's basically a goal every other game.
And then there's Ehlers, who had five goals in 23 games going into this matchup and came out of it with a hat trick to up his season total to eight.
4. Secondary scoring leads the way
The calendar is approaching December and the Blackhawks are still desperately searching for secondary scoring. But it was the depth players that led the charge in Winnipeg.
Marcus Kruger, John Hayden, Jan Rutta, Dominik Kahun and Artem Anisimov each found the back of the net for the Blackhawks, whose top stars were limited on the scoresheet. There's the biggest positive of this game, that the bottom-six forwards contributed on offense for a full 60 minutes. But it would certainly be nice if they could all click at the same time, which would lead to a much more favorable result.