LOS ANGELES — The Blackhawks endured several ridiculously long shifts pinned in their defensive zone Thursday, including a remarkable four-minute marathon for defenseman Alec Regula at the end of the second period.

They somehow managed to avoid conceding any goals directly within those situations. But the resulting lack of offense still ultimately bit them in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Kings.

Kings forward Kevin Fiala scored with 1.4 seconds left in the extra session to avenge the Hawks’ overtime win in the two teams’ first meeting last week and deal the Hawks their sixth loss in seven games.

“[We need to] just try to do everything you can to not prolong those shifts before you get caught in our own zone,” Max Domi said. “Their team seemed to be generating a lot of momentum out of that. [We’ve] just got to work on closing plays a little quicker, both forwards and ‘D.’ Just a little more communication will solve that problem.”

In net, goaltender Petr Mrazek sparkled in his return from injury. His final stat line of 31 saves on 33 shots undersold his performance.

He repeatedly bailed out his exhausted teammates during those lengthy shifts, joking that he “needed new lungs” after Regula’s marathon. And he made a series of huge saves in the final minute of regulation (and first minute of overtime) to earn the Hawks one point.

“[After] the first few saves, especially the breakaway early in the first period, when you stop that, you feel even more confident, you feel better in there,” Mrazek said.

But the Hawks have scored just four goals in their last four games combined, largely due to the lopsided possession-time deficits they’ve faced each night. The Kings dominated scoring chances, 38-20, on Thursday; it marked the 11th time in 13 games this season the Hawks have been out-chanced.

Coach Luke Richardson said he’ll need to discuss how to reduce the turnovers that lead to those long defensive-zone shifts — and also how to conserve energy within those types of shifts.

“It [requires] that little bit of extra effort,” Richardson said. “[When] you’re not moving your feet and you turn the puck over in the neutral zone or at the blue line and it comes back in your zone, those little plays everywhere on the ice are important. Just little chips in the neutral zone to get guys off the ice. When we don’t do it…it’s going to be a shift spinning around in your ‘D’-zone. It’s not fun.”

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The Chicago Cubs are entering free agency looking to make a splash and have met with agent Scott Boras to talk Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts.

With free agency set to begin and the Cubs reportedly looking to spend, the team reps met with agent Scott Boras to discuss the possibility of signing either Carlos Correa or Xander Bogaerts.

As reported by Gordon Wittenmyer, the Cubs had started discussing signing one of the two shortstops, “a lot of the Cubs’ roster needs this winter go through agent Scott Boras and his latest star-studded stable of players — whether it’s premier shortstops Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts, first baseman Josh Bell or even, just maybe, lefty starter Carlos Rodón.” writes Wittenmyer.

Carlos Correa, 28, had a solid year after signing a one year deal with the Minnesota Twins. Posting a slash line of .291/.66/.467 with 22 homers and 67 runs batted in. After signing a one year deal last offseason, it is believed that Correa will be looking a big multi-year deal.

As Xander Bogaerts, 30, a four time All-Star, four time Silver Slugger and top five MVP finisher in 2019, is entering free agency for the first time in his career after spending nine seasons in Boston. Being named to another all-star game in 2022, Bogaerts finished the year with a slash line of .307/.377/.456, with 15 homers and 73 runs batted in.

Having already met with two of the ‘big four’ shortstops available this offseason, the other two being Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson, the Cubs are starting to build up steam as a destination for free agents. Expect to have a lot of buzz and rumors flowing around the team this season, if everything goes the way they have been predicting, the Cubs very well may be in contention again.

“I think the Cubs are ready to begin the truest form of their rebuilding process at the major league level,” said Boras, who would not discuss specifics about talks with any teams. “I think they feel that their minor-league system is in a place now where they need multiple major leaguers to allow for them to build that platform for their success.”

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Ryan Poles is on the road scouting for additional talent for the Chicago Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft, looking to add talent from possibly two of the top programs in the country.

In the most recent episode of 1920 football drive, Ryan Poles and Ian Cunningham flew to South Carolina and then onto Alabama to scout two of the top programs in the country for producing NFL talent.

Both teams are known to produce top talent on the defensive side of the ball.

Headed into the 2023 NFL Draft.  Clemson notably has two Top-10 first-round graded players on the defensive line in defensive tackle Bryan Bresee and defensive end Myles Murphy.  They also add a first-round graded stud in linebacker Trenton Simpson.

Alabama meanwhile has Will Anderson who is arguably the highest-graded talent in the country at this point.   Anderson is a generational pass-rushing talent the Bears could add as a defensive end.

What’s interesting here is how involved Ian Cunningham is in the process with Ryan Poles.  Cunningham has the title of assistant GM and is deeply involved in the Bears’ scouting process like no other scout I can remember in my 20 years of covering Chicago Bears scouting stories.

What I enjoyed hearing most from the interview is how Ryan Poles has a preference to be down on the sideline scouting these players rather than up in the booth scouting.  Ryan Poles likes to see these players up close and personal so he can feel the energy they give off as well as better gauge their athleticism and body frames as players.

In 2012 Shea McCellin was drafted to be a base 4-3 defensive end, at 6-foot-3 250-pounds McCellin was nowhere near the size to compete as a defensive end.  When I met him in 2013 in Bourbonnais you could clearly tell that with his frame he was not built with enough size physically to play on the defensive line.  Ryan Poles listing that as a priority observation sets him apart from someone like Phil Emery who seemingly looked at McCellin’s height and weight and thought he would make it at the position.

It’s also important for Ryan Poles to get up close and personal with these players now when they’re at their playing weight rather than all pumped up with 12 weeks of NFL combine preparation and workouts under their belts.

With the Bears set at QB you can clearly see the focus will be on surrounding Justin Fields with talent.  Despite the fact that the Bears drafted two players on defense last year, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a similar tact taken in 2023.  The Bears need help everywhere on both sides of the ball and it remains to be seen whether the 2023 draft will be more loaded on offense or defense.  At first glance, it may be a defensive-heavy draft where the Bears will grab the best player available.

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Ryan Poles is on the road scouting for additional talent for the Chicago Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft, looking to add talent from possibly two of the top programs in the country.

In the most recent episode of 1920 football drive, Ryan Poles and Ian Cunningham flew to South Carolina and then onto Alabama to scout two of the top programs in the country for producing NFL talent.

Both teams are known to produce top talent on the defensive side of the ball.

Headed into the 2023 NFL Draft.  Clemson notably has two Top-10 first-round graded players on the defensive line in defensive tackle Bryan Bresee and defensive end Myles Murphy.  They also add a first-round graded stud in linebacker Trenton Simpson.

Alabama meanwhile has Will Anderson who is arguably the highest-graded talent in the country at this point.   Anderson is a generational pass-rushing talent the Bears could add as a defensive end.

What’s interesting here is how involved Ian Cunningham is in the process with Ryan Poles.  Cunningham has the title of assistant GM and is deeply involved in the Bears’ scouting process like no other scout I can remember in my 20 years of covering Chicago Bears scouting stories.

What I enjoyed hearing most from the interview is how Ryan Poles has a preference to be down on the sideline scouting these players rather than up in the booth scouting.  Ryan Poles likes to see these players up close and personal so he can feel the energy they give off as well as better gauge their athleticism and body frames as players.

In 2012 Shea McCellin was drafted to be a base 4-3 defensive end, at 6-foot-3 250-pounds McCellin was nowhere near the size to compete as a defensive end.  When I met him in 2013 in Bourbonnais you could clearly tell that with his frame he was not built with enough size physically to play on the defensive line.  Ryan Poles listing that as a priority observation sets him apart from someone like Phil Emery who seemingly looked at McCellin’s height and weight and thought he would make it at the position.

It’s also important for Ryan Poles to get up close and personal with these players now when they’re at their playing weight rather than all pumped up with 12 weeks of NFL combine preparation and workouts under their belts.

With the Bears set at QB you can clearly see the focus will be on surrounding Justin Fields with talent.  Despite the fact that the Bears drafted two players on defense last year, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a similar tact taken in 2023.  The Bears need help everywhere on both sides of the ball and it remains to be seen whether the 2023 draft will be more loaded on offense or defense.  At first glance, it may be a defensive-heavy draft where the Bears will grab the best player available.

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It looks like Jack Sanborn passed the audition.

The undrafted rookie linebacker from Wisconsin and Lake Zurich had seven tackles in his first NFL start last week against the Dolphins. When defensive coordinator Alan Williams was asked for a bright spot in the 35-32 loss — in which the defense allowed 28 points — he picked Sanborn.

“He looked like he belonged,” Williams said. “Didn’t have errors. Tackled well. Ran around well. You come out of that game going, ‘OK, [that was a] step forward. Now let’s taken more step forward.”

Sanborn showed his instinct for the game and ability to learn.

“There was a bounce-outside run play where Nick [Morrow] filled it and [Sanborn] was over the top and he made a good play just like we designed it,” Williams said. “Those are plays we put in our clinic tape … where you go, ‘Yeah, that’s what we wanted him to do and that’s what he did and that’s what we practiced.’

“Ultimately, you want to see that a guys sees it on tape — this is the play. You do it in practice and the it shows up in the game — there it is. You just want to see that happen on a consistent basis. I think it will.”

That’s Sanborn’s strength. “Football player,” William said. “The No. 1 job of a linebacker is to find the ball, hit the ball. And he did that. That’s a trait he is — fast trigger. He sees it well and goes and gets it.”

Sanborn said he felt “pretty good” about his performance, credited his teammates and coaches and was proud that “the moment was too big.”

Injury report

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson (oblique), right guard Teven Jenkins (hip), defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad (knee) and cornerback Kindle Vildor (ankle) were limited in practice Thursday.

Johnson wasn’t too concerned his injury would impact his status for Sunday’s game against the Lions.

Battle of brothers

Bears wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown is extra motivated to beat the Lions on Sunday. He has $1,000 wager with his brother — Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown — over which team will win more games this season.

“I [told him] we were going to put up at least 30 [points], so we’re going to score more than them to win the game, ” Equanimeous said.

Amon-Ra, 23, a second-year receiver from USC, is the Lions’ leading receiver this season, with 39 receptions for 399 yards and three touchdowns. Equanimeous 26, a fourth-year player from Notre Dame, has 11 receptions for 164 yards and a touchdown for the Bears.

The St. Brown brothers faced each other twice last season when Equanimeous was with the Packers.

“It is [special],” Equanimeous said. “You can’t take anything for granted, especially having a family member in the NFL. It’s a cool thing.”

Equanimeous made no excuses for his fourth-down drop against the Dolphins that sealed the Bears’ fate.

“I just dropped it,” he said. “Won’t happen again. I promise. It happens.”

NFL to Bears — “Our bad”

After the Bears submitted film to the league, the NFL told them they should not have called pass interference on Eddie Jackson in the fourth quarter Sunday. The Bears safety said it didn’t make him feel any better.

“I mean, not really — because we knew it wasn’t PI,” he said.

Contributing: Patrick Finley

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