DALLAS — The Blackhawks have produced their fair share of meltdowns in recent seasons, but Wednesday’s collapse against the Stars might have been their worst yet.

The Hawks allowed five goals over the game’s final 10 minutes in a 6-4 regulation loss, throwing away everything on a night that appeared — midway through the third period — on track to be one of their best performances of the season.

“That’s a game that we have to find a way to close out,” Max Domi said bluntly. “You’ve got to find a way to win that one. We were in complete control. Just a couple plays, couple bounces here, and it’s on us to close that one out. We had no business losing that game.”

Domi gave the Hawks a 4-1 lead with 10:23 left thanks to a spectacular diving poke at a rebound, seemingly adding insurance after a stellar second period in which the Hawks scored three times and thoroughly controlled play.

But then the wheels completely fell off. Jamie Benn scored a power-play goal with 9:45 left, then Mason Marchment and Ty Dellandrea found the net twice in 14 seconds to tie the game with 5:48 left.

Radek Faksa scored the game-winning goal with an innocent bank-in off Hawks goalie Petr Mrazek with 1:33 left; it wasn’t initially called a goal, but the puck obviously crossed the line on replay. Jason Robertson added an empty-netter in the waning seconds.

Hawks coach Luke Richardson, whose team has now lost five straight games and 11 of their last 13 overall, said he didn’t consider calling a timeout to slow the Stars’ momentum.

“We didn’t have our work ethic and we sat back a little bit — not [exactly] trying to preserve it, but they were coming hard and we just didn’t handle it well,” Richardson said. “On every goal, it was something different… Unfortunately, I thought the guys worked really hard for 40 or 50 minutes. But the game is 60 minutes, so that’s just a tough lesson to learn.”

Added Domi: “You knew they were going to have their push in the third, and you have to give them credit. But when that happens, you have to find a way to weather the storm, tighten it up a little bit, find ways to stand in front of pucks and get pucks out. [If we] just play simple hockey the last 10 minutes, we win that game. It’s a tough one.”

Defenseman Seth Jones played 21:13 and scored his first goal of the season in his return from his thumb injury. He said he felt decent but made some “boneheaded plays.”

Forward Sam Lafferty missed the third period with an injury, contributing to the Hawks’ fatigue when trying to defend an onslaught of chances — the Stars outshot the Hawks 21-5 in the final frame alone. Richardson said Lafferty was “sore” and will be reevaluated Thursday before the Hawks’ home matinee Friday against the Canadiens.

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WASHINGTON, ILL-St. Rita junior Morez Johnson, an Illinois recruit, threw down a devastating turnaround dunk midway through the third quarter on Wednesday against Joliet West. It put the Mustangs up by 10 points, crushed the spirits of the Tigers’ student section and seemed to suck the life out of a gym full of neutrals hoping for an exciting, close finish.

The Mustangs led by 14 early in the fourth quarter and seemed to be putting the finishing touches on a victory against a Joliet West team that was just too small to match up with the 6-9 Johnson, 6-10 James Brown and 6-6 Nojus Indrusaitis (the three top juniors in the state). St. Rita pulled down an astonishing 31 rebounds in just the first half.

That would have been the end of it against most teams. But Michigan State recruit Jeremy Fears Jr. transferred home to Joliet this season and everything has changed.

Fears’ confidence, calm and ability spearheaded a Joliet West comeback led by defense and free-throw shooting. The Tigers forced key turnovers and made 19 consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter to beat St. Rita 64-56 at the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions.

“[Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger] told us if we can get it under ten with five minutes left that we are gonna win the game,” Fears said. “He asked everybody on the bench down the line, ‘Do you believe we can win the game?’

“We looked him in his face and said yes and did what we needed to do one possession at a time to get the win.”

Fears’ experience at La Lumiere the last two seasons and with USA basketball gives him a rare, Jalen Brunson-esque confidence.

“[Fears] moniker is ‘The Floor General,'” Kreiger said. “And that’s his job. He’s an extension of us as a coaching staff. When they see that he believes we all believe. We knew it was going to be a battle because of the inside force that they have but our four guards are going to be the difference in this season.”

Fears finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. His brother, sophomore Jeremiah Fears, added 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Junior Justus McNair contributed 17 points. The Tigers were 25 for 27 from the free-throw line.

“We let them control most of the game and play at their pace,” Fears said. “But then we started to speed them up and we got a few turnovers and few buckets and the momentum was on our side.”

Joliet West (2-0) didn’t allow St. Rita (0-1) to score a bucket for the final 4:13 of the game.

The Tigers were outrebounded 31-14 in the first half but the boards were an even 18-18 in the second half. Joliet West bigs Matthew Moore and Drew King blocked shots and made St. Rita’s talented juniors work for everything and 6-3 Jayden Martin kept a body on Brown whenever possible.

“We knew that everything was on their side and we couldn’t let our heads drop,” Moore said. “We had to keep fighting. After we got it down to nine points I knew we were going to win.”

Johnson led St. Rita with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Brown added 13 points and 13 rebounds and Nojus Indrusaitis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

“The first game I’ve seen for every team I’ve watched has been sloppy,” Mustangs coach Roshawn Russell said. “It’s early in the season and we will learn from this.”

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WASHINGTON, ILL-St. Rita junior Morez Johnson, an Illinois recruit, threw down a devastating turnaround dunk midway through the third quarter on Wednesday against Joliet West. It put the Mustangs up by 10 points, crushed the spirits of the Tigers’ student section and seemed to suck the life out of a gym full of neutrals hoping for an exciting, close finish.

The Mustangs led by 14 early in the fourth quarter and seemed to be putting the finishing touches on a victory against a Joliet West team that was just too small to match up with the 6-9 Johnson, 6-10 James Brown and 6-6 Nojus Indrusaitis (the three top juniors in the state). St. Rita pulled down an astonishing 31 rebounds in just the first half.

That would have been the end of it against most teams. But Michigan State recruit Jeremy Fears Jr. transferred home to Joliet this season and everything has changed.

Fears’ confidence, calm and ability spearheaded a Joliet West comeback led by defense and free-throw shooting. The Tigers forced key turnovers and made 19 consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter to beat St. Rita 64-56 at the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions.

“[Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger] told us if we can get it under ten with five minutes left that we are gonna win the game,” Fears said. “He asked everybody on the bench down the line, ‘Do you believe we can win the game?’

“We looked him in his face and said yes and did what we needed to do one possession at a time to get the win.”

Fears’ experience at La Lumiere the last two seasons and with USA basketball gives him a rare, Jalen Brunson-esque confidence.

“[Fears] moniker is ‘The Floor General,'” Kreiger said. “And that’s his job. He’s an extension of us as a coaching staff. When they see that he believes we all believe. We knew it was going to be a battle because of the inside force that they have but our four guards are going to be the difference in this season.”

Fears finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. His brother, sophomore Jeremiah Fears, added 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Junior Justus McNair contributed 17 points. The Tigers were 25 for 27 from the free-throw line.

“We let them control most of the game and play at their pace,” Fears said. “But then we started to speed them up and we got a few turnovers and few buckets and the momentum was on our side.”

Joliet West (2-0) didn’t allow St. Rita (0-1) to score a bucket for the final 4:13 of the game.

The Tigers were outrebounded 31-14 in the first half but the boards were an even 18-18 in the second half. Joliet West bigs Matthew Moore and Drew King blocked shots and made St. Rita’s talented juniors work for everything and 6-3 Jayden Martin kept a body on Brown whenever possible.

“We knew that everything was on their side and we couldn’t let our heads drop,” Moore said. “We had to keep fighting. After we got it down to nine points I knew we were going to win.”

Johnson led St. Rita with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Brown added 13 points and 13 rebounds and Nojus Indrusaitis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

“The first game I’ve seen for every team I’ve watched has been sloppy,” Mustangs coach Roshawn Russell said. “It’s early in the season and we will learn from this.”

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WASHINGTON, ILL–Jeremy Fears Jr.’s final act of the night was his easiest play of the game. He lobbed the ball in the air and Matthew Moore slammed it home at the buzzer, setting off a celebration on the Joliet West bench and across the court in the student section.

It’s one thing to look at a roster and see the potential. It’s another to see the group deal with adversity head on and come out winners. The Tigers did that twice in two days. They were their own worst enemy and had to overcome silly technical fouls to beat St. Louis Cardinal Ritter on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Joliet West, which was expected to be undersized, matched up against St. Rita’s twin towers of 6-10 James Brown and 6-9 Morez Johnson and 6-6 scorer Nojus Indrusaitis. The Tigers got destroyed on the boards in the first half but found a way to win late in the game. Matthew Moore, a 6-9 senior, and 6-8 junior Drew King couldn’t match St. Rita on the boards or offensively, but they blocked shots and protected the rim enough to make a major impact.

It’s obviously super early in the season. But a win like tonight’s makes me ask the question. Should Joliet West be the No. 1 team in the Super 25?

Tigers coach Jeremy Kreiger: “I believe sir, that you make the rankings. But we’re not about rankings. We’re the number one team in Joliet and that’s all we are fighting for.”

Fears: “Definitely we should be number one. In my opinion we are No. 1.”

Joliet West has a few more games in Washington this week and will face No. 3 Kenwood at the Chicago Elite Classic a week from Saturday.

Wednesday’s top games (abbreviated version because I have to drive home to Chicago). Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

New Trier 43, Loyola 35: Jake Fiegen led the Trevians with 11 and Logan Feller scored nine in the rivalry win. Miles Boland had 17 for the Ramblers, who are missing a good chunk of players still with the football team.

Young 77, Rockford Auburn 65: Dalen Davis and Daniel Johnson each scored 15 points and two freshmen made contributions. Marquis Clark scored nine and Nasir Rankin added eight points for the Dolphins.

Joliet Central 66, Minooka 59: Didn’t see any stats from the Steelmen but this is a good sign for a team that only had three wins last season. Nick Andreano had a nice game for Minooka with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Phillips 81, East Peoria 68: Breakout game in a major shootout for senior Jaheim Savage, who has been a force in the city the past three seasons. He had 31 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Paul, Cal. 53, Lincoln Park 52 OT: The Lions battled hard but couldn’t pull out the win in Washington. Myan Whitfield scored 21.

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WASHINGTON, ILL–Jeremy Fears Jr.’s final act of the night was his easiest play of the game. He lobbed the ball in the air and Matthew Moore slammed it home at the buzzer, setting off a celebration on the Joliet West bench and across the court in the student section.

It’s one thing to look at a roster and see the potential. It’s another to see the group deal with adversity head on and come out winners. The Tigers did that twice in two days. They were their own worst enemy and had to overcome silly technical fouls to beat St. Louis Cardinal Ritter on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Joliet West, which was expected to be undersized, matched up against St. Rita’s twin towers of 6-10 James Brown and 6-9 Morez Johnson and 6-6 scorer Nojus Indrusaitis. The Tigers got destroyed on the boards in the first half but found a way to win late in the game. Matthew Moore, a 6-9 senior, and 6-8 junior Drew King couldn’t match St. Rita on the boards or offensively, but they blocked shots and protected the rim enough to make a major impact.

It’s obviously super early in the season. But a win like tonight’s makes me ask the question. Should Joliet West be the No. 1 team in the Super 25?

Tigers coach Jeremy Kreiger: “I believe sir, that you make the rankings. But we’re not about rankings. We’re the number one team in Joliet and that’s all we are fighting for.”

Fears: “Definitely we should be number one. In my opinion we are No. 1.”

Joliet West has a few more games in Washington this week and will face No. 3 Kenwood at the Chicago Elite Classic a week from Saturday.

Wednesday’s top games (abbreviated version because I have to drive home to Chicago). Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

New Trier 43, Loyola 35: Jake Fiegen led the Trevians with 11 and Logan Feller scored nine in the rivalry win. Miles Boland had 17 for the Ramblers, who are missing a good chunk of players still with the football team.

Young 77, Rockford Auburn 65: Dalen Davis and Daniel Johnson each scored 15 points and two freshmen made contributions. Marquis Clark scored nine and Nasir Rankin added eight points for the Dolphins.

Joliet Central 66, Minooka 59: Didn’t see any stats from the Steelmen but this is a good sign for a team that only had three wins last season. Nick Andreano had a nice game for Minooka with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Phillips 81, East Peoria 68: Breakout game in a major shootout for senior Jaheim Savage, who has been a force in the city the past three seasons. He had 31 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Paul, Cal. 53, Lincoln Park 52 OT: The Lions battled hard but couldn’t pull out the win in Washington. Myan Whitfield scored 21.

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DALLAS — The Blackhawks have recently tried a five-forward arrangement on their top power-play unit for the first time in recent memory.

The approach eschews defensemen altogether to make forward Philipp Kurashev the fifth man in the group, accompanying Patrick Kane, Max Domi, Jonathan Toews and Taylor Raddysh. Kurashev may be slightly more defensively responsible than the other four, but he’s nonetheless primarily there to boost the offensive threat level.

“Early in the power plays, if we’re making strong plays at the top and not being risky [by attempting seam passes] too much…we don’t have to worry about it,” coach Luke Richardson said.

The idea is that five forwards are more interchangeable from position to position, allowing the Hawks to establish more continuous player movement — in addition to puck movement — that will eventually spread apart and open up opposing penalty kills. There’s an obvious risk factor if the ‘PK’ produces a counterattack, though.

“Sometimes you have to be a little more conscious before they have the puck,” he said. “If Kane’s in the corner and he looks like he’s cornered and there’s no out, the other guy — Kurashev or Domi — may have to take a step back out of the blue line, just in case. We discuss that stuff, just to be aware.”

Richardson only intends to use the five-forward setup during the first minute of each power play, opting to deploy not one but two defensemen on the second ‘PP’ unit. Seth Jones easing back to full strength might end the experiment soon anyway.

Entering Wednesday, the Hawks’ power play had regressed toward the middle of the pack with a 21.4% conversion rate — ranking 14th in the NHL — after going 3-for-23 over their last eight games. They ranked a lowly 28th in scoring chances per minute.

Comfortable Khaira

Forward Jujhar Khaira has been a bright spot lately. He entered Wednesday having recorded points in two of his last three games — including a goal Sunday against the Penguins — after tallying just four points in his first 39 games as a Hawk. He has been bumped up to the third line next to Jason Dickinson.

He said this is the best he has felt, confidence-wise, since his major concussion last December.

“It’s trending up,” he said. “I’m feeling more comfortable out there skating the puck and trying to create more offense.”

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