Michael Frolik woke up Monday with one goal in 28 games for the Chicago Blackhawks this season. That goal came back on Jan. 19 - the season opener against the L.A. Kings.
On Monday, he scored twice against the same opponent. So, it would seem like a good night for the struggling winger. Didn’t turn out that way.
Instead, the Blackhawks gave up a Dustin Brown goal with 1:27 remaining in the third period and lost 5-4 to the Kings.
“It kind of sucks,” Frolik told CSN Chicago. “(Less than) two minutes left and we give up a goal off the face off. It was a tough bounce and it hurts. It’s nice to get the monkey off your back; I didn’t score in a while. But I’d be happier if we’d won the game.”
Regulation losses have been rare for Chicago. The Blackhawks have a record of 24-4-3, and their 51 points has them at the top of the Western Conference standings.
The Blackhawks went the first 24 games of the season without a regulation loss but have dropped two in a row, including last week’s defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in a game that featured the two best teams in the West.
“Tough loss for sure. We haven’t really gone through this before where we’ve kind of struggled a little bit,” Patrick Kane told the Chicago Tribune.