Blackhawks roll out new lines after loss to Canadiens Thursday

That defeat still lingered as the Blackhawks hit the ice, and the coaching staff wasted little time reshuffling combinations ahead of the Ottawa stop.

The message felt clear: details matter now, even in December.

The most noticeable change was up front, where Sam Lafferty drew back into the lineup and Dominic Toniato was the odd man out. Lafferty's straight-line speed has been missed, especially on a team struggling to sustain forecheck pressure.

Colton Dach remained at center on the fourth line, but Nick Lardis slid down a rung, a quiet reminder that young scorers still have to earn shifts away from the puck.

Lardis has flashed a quick release, yet his defensive reads remain a work in progress.

Higher up, the top line leaned into size and skill with Andre Burakovsky alongside Frank Nazar and Tyler Bertuzzi. Nazar's pace through the neutral zone has been one of the few consistent positives, even as the club searches for cleaner entries.

As a fan watching this team nightly, the sense is that patience is thinning, not panicking, but thinning. These are the kinds of tweaks you make when the process is slipping faster than the results.

The second line stayed intact with Ilya Mikheyev, Jason Dickinson, and Oliver Moore, a trio trusted to handle tougher minutes. Dickinson, 30 years old and carrying a 4.5 million dollar cap hit, continues to be leaned on for defensive zone draws.
Further down, Chicago reunited Teuvo Teravainen with Donato and Greene, a look that prioritizes puck movement over brute force. Teravainen's vision still pops, even on a roster short on finish.

On the back end, the pairs stayed relatively steady, with Alex Vlasic skating beside Louis Crevier. Vlasic's reach and calm exits have quietly made him one of the more reliable defenders this season.

Eyes are drifting toward Levshunov's minutes with Grzelcyk, especially against heavier Eastern Conference forechecks.

The lines were shared by Ben Pope on Thursday, offering a snapshot rather than a promise, but nothing feels accidental right now.

Whether these looks translate into better starts remains the real test, but the next game will quickly tell if urgency finally turns into traction.