The Chicago Blackhawks (21–30–8) faced off against the equally inept Ottaway Senators (21–31–5) for a battle of two teams looking for better days ahead. Ottawa has set up their organization with a depth of young prospects while Chicago fans wait and see if Kyle Davidson has any tricks up his sleeve to start the “rebuild” for the second time in two seasons on Madison Street.
With Marc-Andre Fleury starting tonight in net, one would hope this would be a nice tune-up game for him before being shipped off to a competitor.
Earlier today, defenseman Seth Jones was quoted at this morning’s skate “It’s been frustrating the hell out of me this entire year” when asked about only having three goals so far this season. The forward disguised as a defenseman only has eight more years on his deal with the Blackhawks.
Derek King went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen to start tonight’s contest.
#Blackhawks projected lineup vs. Senators:
DeBrincat-Strome-Kane
Hagel-Toews-Dach
Kubalik-Carpenter-Lafferty
T. Johnson-Entwistlede Haan-S. Jones
McCabe-Murphy
Stillman-C. Jones
GustafssonFleury
Lankinen*Borgstrom, Kurashev and Regula are the scratches
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 12, 2022
This move left King with six defensemen after Senator Parker Kelly sent Connor Murphy into the boards awkwardly which resulted in Murphy being stretchered off the Ottawa ice. Kelly was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Chicago would not take advantage of the man-advantage and found themselves down 2–0 after the first period of action.
To make matters worse, Blackhawks’ captain Jonathan Toews dropped the cloves with Senators’ forward Zach Sanford after Sanford leveled Kirby Dach with his head down. Toews jumped in to protect his young linemate, only to receive a few blows to the head, something Toews does not need with his concussion history.
All-in-all, the first period was a poor showing for the beleaguered Blackhawks with Murphy being stretchered off, Toews taking hits to the head and Fleury surrendering two goals on 10 shots.
Chicago would go on a barrage of goals, scoring six of the game’s next seven goals led by two from Toews in the first three minutes to tie the game 2–2. Toews’ second goal, on the power play, was his 7th goal of the season. Both goals would open up the floodgates on former Chicago goaltender Anton Forsberg who had been on an excellent five-game stretch and playing very well for the young Senators.
Patrick Kane assisting on Jonathan Toews’ goal to move into sole possession of second with 1,154 points in franchise history. Fitting. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/zXANj1Yf8N
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 13, 2022
The assist gave Patrick Kane sole possession of second with 1,154 points in Blackhawks’ history. The former first overall pick has been a pleasure to watch on the ice each and every season.
Chicago took their first lead of the game when defenseman Caleb Jones scored his third of the season. Nick Paul would tie the game at the 15:41 mark of the period only to have forward Sam Lafferty take back the lead for the visitors 18 seconds later. The goal gave 27–year old his third of the season.
ok @SamLafferty18 we see you 👀 IT'S 4-3 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/4gDfx7g0tS
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 13, 2022
Caleb Jones scored midway through the third period to extend the Blackhawks lead to 5–3. The goal gave Jones his first multi-goal game of his career. The streaking Dylan Strome scored his 16th goal of the season off a nice tip from a shot from defenseman Seth Jones from the point.
THOUGHTS
Patrick Kane can still control a game when he wants. His skill with the puck is second to none. However, is he the key piece to starting the rebuild by getting draft picks and prospects to start building up the organization’s future talent? Remember, the Seth Jones’ trade gave up last season’s first-round pick and this year’s first-round pick.
Marc-Andre Fleury showed his veteran leadership after giving up a tough third goal and shouldering the blame for the youngster Caleb Jones. Jones played the puck fairly well but Paul came to a screeching halt and bury a shot behind Fleury in one quick, swift motion. This type of leadership would look great in Toronto come April during the Maple Leafs’ playoff run.
Chicago lost Connor Murphy to a scary play early in the game and also lost forward Tyler Johnson to concussion protocol midway through the contest. Let’s hope both are doing well as reports were Murphy stayed at the arena after being stretchered off the ice.
As a fan, this was a game that was exciting to watch. Now let’s keep the phone lines busy Mr. Davidson and prepare to make this team a playoff team within the next half-decade. It’s already been five seasons since you were relevant.