Blackhawks will want to leave California road trip in the rearview mirror to break slump

In the loss to Anaheim, the game unraveled fast. The Blackhawks were out-shot 17-6 in the first period and were lucky to trail just 1-0. Then the floodgates opened, as Anaheim struck with four unanswered second-period goals before piling on more later.

Connor Bedard at least registered an assist on Tyler Bertuzzi's power-play goal, raising his season total to 40 points. Bertuzzi now carries 15 goals on the year. But beyond that lone bright spot, the Blackhawks had almost nothing going offensively or defensively.

It stings especially because this was the second time in back-to-back games this season that Chicago collapsed-the other being a 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Fans and analysts alike are starting to ask serious questions about consistency and mental toughness. It's one thing to lose tight games, but to get blown out twice on a road trip shows bigger problems in structure, execution, or motivation.

This road trip even led to multiple departures from the Blackhawks, but they aren't going far from Chicago.

The team announced that they've assigned Sam Rinzel and Landon Slaggert to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs on Monday.

The Blackhawks now regroup at home. Their next game comes Wednesday against the New York Rangers at the United Center. They need to figure out how to avoid these collapses-because this weekend's results leave a deep bruise.