The Chicago Blackhawks came into Thursday night’s action against the Los Angeles Kings coming off of a well-player 4–2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. The new faces in the locker room already started to pitch in against Anaheim, with Taylor Raddysh scoring his first as a Blackhawk in the winning effort. Kevin Lankinen stopped 27 of 29 shots in a brilliant effort for him in net.
Some small changes to the lineup would come for the Blackhawks on Thursday night. Collin Delia would sub in for Lankinen, getting into his first NHL action in a while after languishing in the AHL for much of the season up to this point. Henrik Borgstrom subbed in for Dominik Kubalik as well, and was the only change for the forward group, with no changes on the defensive personnel front.
First period
Honestly, there really was not much happening for the first 16 minutes or so in the game. Both teams would trade chances, but there was not anything that was really close to going into the net on either side. Delia stopped everything that was coming with relative ease, looking like he has been in the NHL all season.
With around three and a half minutes remaining in the frame, the Blackhawks fought to keep the puck in the offensive zone, with Dylan Strome coming out of the corner with the puck and passing it up the boards to Patrick Kane. Kane then got it across the ice to Erik Gustafsson, who touched it across to Alex DeBrincat. DeBrincat’s point shot went off of the end boards, but bounced right out in front to Kane, who put it right past Jonathan Quick to make it 1–0 Blackhawks.
Just another Kane goal for your feed pic.twitter.com/70Bbve26t5
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 25, 2022
The Hawks got a bit of a scare when they let up a 2-on-1 chance at the end of the frame, but Delia stood tall and stopped the opportunity.
Second period
Just over two minutes into the period, Troy Stecher of the Kings took a hooking penalty, but it would be the Blackhawks hurting on this chance. The Hawks won the draw, but got blown past by two Kings, with Trevor Moore beating everyone down the ice, and just having to beat Delia, which he did, tying the game up 1–1.
The Blackhawks did get some chances on that power play, but were not able to put anything past Quick. With just over seven minutes to go, Strome got the puck behind the LA net. He waited patiently for DeBrincat, who streaked through a sleeping Kings defense, and put the puck past Quick, giving the Blackhawks a 2–1 lead.
Dylan Strome gets behind the net and feeds Alex DeBrincat for the one-timer to give Chicago the lead in the 2nd!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/TAwz3UniuO
— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) March 25, 2022
The Kings would get some chances, but would be stymied until they would get a power play opportunity of their own with just over three minutes to play in the period. The Kings had some pretty perfect passing, got a shot on net and Philip Danault tucked it past Delia, knotting things up a 2–2.
But wait, we still aren’t done with the second period! Just over a minute later, Raddysh put together a great individual effort, getting into the offensive zone with the puck, fighting along the boards to keep in and then finding Sam Lafferty right in front, who tucked it home on a nifty net-front dangle, making it 3–2 Blackhawks.
Taylor Raddysh sends a terrific feed through the defense in to Sam Lafferty who gets to his backhand and buries to put Chicago ahead! What a goal!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/LpVotpjNUp
— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) March 25, 2022
Third period
The Blackhawks started off with some good chances in the period, with Kane getting a couple good pucks on net, along with Reese Johnson. With just under 11 minutes to go, Danault came into the offensive zone to get a shot on net. Viktor Arvidsson got the puck back toward the net after the rebound, with the puck eventually finding Danault once again for him to put the puck past Delia again, tying everything up at 3–3 one more time.
DeBrincat would get one more shot on net before the period would end, but that would be stopped by Quick. The period would end with a score of 3–3, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime and shootout
Surprisingly, it felt like the Kings had just barely held on through regulation, as all of the really good chances in overtime were for the Blackhawks. Seth Jones had a great shot on Quick, along with, of course, Kane. The Blackhawks also got a power play in the last two minutes of overtime, but were not able to convert on it, sending this game to the shootout.
In the shootout, it was a battle of the goalies. Both Delia and Quick did not let anything past them for the first two rounds, and Delia denied the Kings on their third attempt, leading to the game getting put on the stick of DeBrincat. He managed to deke Quick out with a little backhand-forehand action, roofing the puck over his shoulder and winning the game for the Blackhawks 4–3.
THE CAT WINS IT IN A SHOOTOUT!!!
🐱🐱🐱 Quick was not as quick as The Cat who shelves it for the game winner for the #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/eiEPcmgE2R
— Just Another Year Chicago (@OfficialJAYCHI) March 25, 2022
Analysis
I really do not know what to make of this team. They did not make as many trades as I thought they should have (Calvin de Haan, Gustafsson, etc.), but they are currently playing like a team that still wants to be here even if the season has not gone their way to this point, which, as a fan, is what you want to see. I am still hoping that more moves are to come in the offseason, and this is not just talk about a rebuild from Davidson, but time will tell. Moving Marc-Andre Fleury and Brandon Hagel was certainly an encouraging start, though, and would indicate Davidson’s intention is to legitimately rebuild, as it should be.
For now, we will enjoy the victory, highlighted by Delia’s feel-good story after making a remarkable 43 saves in the win. Now, it is on to the next one against the Vegas Golden Knights, a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. CDT on ESPN+.