After losing to the Utah Hockey Club in their season opener, the Chicago Blackhawks looked to get their first win of the season on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets. For 58 minutes, it looked like the Hawks were on their way to a victory, but that is when the ghosts of last season reared their ugly heads. The Hawks surrendered a late third-period goal to send the game to overtime. In overtime, a defensive zone miscue led to the game-winner as the Hawks fell 2–1.
First period
This first period was much better for the Blackhawks. After coming out sluggish against Utah in the opener, the Hawks played a solid brand of hockey. Chicago put six shots on net while only allowing seven. All the shots were stopped by Connor Hellebuyck and Arvid Soderblom, respectively.
The lone highlight of the first period was Connor Bedard sending a behind-the-back pass to Ilya Mikheyev.
A Patrick Kane-esque no-look backhand pass by Connor Bedard. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/RB0TlCNNjN
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 12, 2024
Second period
In the second period, the Blackhawks finally broke the scoreless tie with a goal from Ryan Donato. Donato streaked down the ice and fired a shot past Hellebuyck.
Ryan Donato scores his first goal of the season, and Pat Maroon picks up an assist for his first point with Chicago. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/G4JYF7CNzB
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 12, 2024
The period ended with the Hawks leading 1–0.
Third period
With time winding down in the third period, Mark Scheifele beat Soderblom for the game-tying goal, sending things to extra time.
Overtime
In overtime, Philipp Kurashev lost a defensive zone faceoff and then completely lost Scheifele in coverage, leading to an easy goal for Scheifele—his second of the game—and the Jets victory. The Hawks and Soderblom were robbed of their first victory of the season in crushing defeat. Scheifele became the first player in franchise history to score a tying-goal in the final two minutes of regulation and game-winner in the first minute of overtime.
Analysis
Soderblom had his best start in two seasons. After having a horrific season last year, this was a very good sign for the young goalie. He made 33 of 35 saves and had a .943 save percentage and was named the second star of the game. With Soderblom expected to return to the AHL once Laurent Brossoit is healthy, he has to make the most of his NHL starts this season. He absolutely deserved the victory, and probably a shutout, too.
Friday marked the season debut of Wyatt Kaiser. Kaiser replaced Nolan Allen as the sixth defenseman in the lineup. He played 15:01 in the contest. The bottom-pairing defensemen rotation will be a thing to watch as they are the only young players currently fighting for ice time.
There are no moral victories for the Blackhawks this season. The last two seasons were about losing games for a high draft pick; now the team has to start building on the foundation that has been laid here with Bedard and others. The team needs to start winning to get the younger players to start building winning habits.
The Hawks will take on the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at 9 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on CHSN and heard on WGN 720 AM.