Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson laid out the simplest game plan of his coaching career.

“Win,” he joked after Thursday’s morning skate.

The Hawks did just that in a 1-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks later that night at the United Center.

“It worked out very well, thank you very much,” he said, sporting a big smile.

Was it just that simple the whole time?

In a pretty basic game, the Hawks kept mistakes to a minimum and got superb goaltending from Petr Mrázek, who made 37 saves to earn the Blackhawks’ first shutout this season and the 25th of his career.

“I’s been a long time,” he said. “I don’t remember the last time when I had one. It feels good.”

Mrázek was a Carolina Hurricane the last time he had a shutout, a 1-0 win over the Dallas Stars on April 4, 2021.

“He’s sick,” Connor Bedard said of Mrázek’s performance. “He’s been that all year. Every game he’s been a rock back there for us.”

The Hawks ended a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in the process.

“It was a great game overall, especially the special teams and Petr,” said Philipp Kurashev, who scored the winning goal on a second-period power play, courtesy Tristan Luneau’s high-sticking double minor against Ryan Donato. “It’s nice to get a win again.”

Mrázek added, “Just to play simple, play our game and try to score first like we did tonight and then manage the game.”

[ [Don’t miss] ‘Everyone’s eyes are on him.’ 3 things we learned about Connor Bedard from Chicago Blackhawks veterans. ]

Richardson said a young team can learn a lot of lessons from a win like this: “It’s easier to listen and learn from messages when you win a game.”

Here are four takeaways from the win.

Several Hawks made it happen. Let’s break it down:

• Anthony Beauvillier weaved through the neutral zone and rimmed the puck around to where Tyler Johnson had a chance at it. Richardson singled out “Beau entering and holding onto the puck and making a play and trying to get the change at the right time.”
• Johnson dug the puck out after a wall battle and backhanded it cross-ice to Bedard. “Tyler’s a veteran guy and he’s composed out there,” Richardson said. “He made the right play.”
• Bedard dragged it a bit for a better shot, but saw Kurashev bearing down out of the corner of his eye and dished to him. Bedard said, “I just got the puck so, yeah, I saw him coming in and lining up and just kind of tapped it back to him — he made a great shot.”
• Down low, Taylor Raddysh was screening the Ducks goalie.
• As Kurashev charged in, stick raised and ready for a pass from Bedard. He ripped it once Bedard teed him up for the goal.

Richardson said, “Not everybody who contributes to that goal gets a point on that goal, but in our eyes, it is. It’s nice to get everybody involved in those, for sure.

“The more we get confidence on the power play, the more it allows us to play a better five-on-five game. We don’t have to get risky because we’re not worried we’re not scoring on the power play.”

[ [Don’t miss] Patrick Kane misses a point-blank shot in debut with the Detroit Red Wings: ‘It would’ve been nice to bury that’ ]

With less than a minute to go in the second period, the Hawks made a mistake on the long change. The Ducks seized on that chance and set up Frank Vatrano for a one-on-one showdown with Mrázek.

Vatrano took his best shot but Mrázek blocked it with the shaft of his stick.

“That was big,” Richardson said. “We got caught on a bad change.”

The Hawks have a rule: You only change one defenseman at a time.

“So in that second period, it would be the left D and the right D has got to come up the middle of the ice and hold,” Richardson said. “And when the left D is changed and (a new one is) coming on, well then maybe they can switch or maybe you have to stay. So (both) those guys came off. And, that’s dangerous.

“Petr stood tall and made a great save on a really good shooter. So that was probably a big turning point to make us feel confident going into the third.”

When you’re a rookie with skills like Korchinski, you’re going to have your oohs-and-aahs moments along with some oops-and-aarghs ones.

Korchinski had one of each Thursday.

During a first-period power play, he made a pass along the blueline with nothing but empty ice on the other side as Cole Guttman was already motoring his way down the middle. The Ducks took off with the turnover but Korchinski broke up the entry pass and forced an offside.

In the second period, Korchinski barreled up the right flank and blew by three defenders as he curled to the net. Ducks defenders got their sticks in to disrupt Korchinski’s first try, and his second attempt just missed to the left.

“We want to promote that for him when it’s his chance to go,” Richardson said. “It’s the best part of his game, his skating ability and creating offense, and he’s shown a couple of those this year.

“It’d be great to add (it) in once a period or maybe twice a period.”

Chicago Tribune Sports

Weekdays

A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.

Sort of. There really weren’t many fireworks from the first meeting between the No. 1 and the No. 2 pick of the 2023 draft.

According to NHL Stats, they were the 26th set of top-two picks from the same draft class to meet for the first time within their first 25 games. They had a combined 33 points entering the matchup.

During the 1993-94 season, Alexandre Daigle and Chris Pronger had 22 points between them heading into their first game against each other on Nov. 10, 1993.

“We were only out there for kind of one shift against each other,” Bedard said postgame. “I asked him about what he thought of the (national) anthem and he said it was pretty cool. That’s it.

“He was great tonight so it was fun to go against him and that team.”

Bedard continued his hot stretch with a helper on Kurashev’s goal to reach 10 assists to go with his 11 goals.

The only other rookies in franchise history to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists within their first 25 games are Denis Savard (10-15 in 20 games) and Jonathan Toews (10-10 in 23 games in 2008), according to NHL Stats.