Chicago welcomed fellow Original 6 opponent, the New York Rangers, to the United Center for a Thursday night showdown. Chicago looked to continue their strong play after Tuesday’s victory over Anaheim, while the New York Rangers came in looking to continue their winning ways after their victory Tuesday evening over Florida.
Corey Crawford came into Thursday’s contest looking for his third victory in four games since returning from injury. The Blackhawks line combinations were:
DeBrincat – Toews – Kahun
Saad – Anisimov – Kane
Fortin – Johnson – Schmaltz
Kunitz – Kruger – Hayden
Keith – Jokiharju
Gustafsson – Seabrook
Manning – Rutta
Crawford
Head Coach Joel Quenneville may have had the famous quote “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” in mind when creating the line combinations for Thursday night’s game. With no changes, Chicago looked to pick up where they left off Tuesday after their strong outing against the Ducks.
First Period
Chicago opened the period with a strong first shift from the Jonathan Toews line. This line has continued to play well entering this 10th game of the season. The Blackhawks also looked like the better team early on.
As the 2:55 mark of the period approached, the Toews line gained possession and began up ice. Duncan Keith fed a short pass to the Captain at the red line and Toews skated up ice forcing two Rangers’ defenders to comically fall over themselves. With a clear path to the net, Toews put a shot over goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s right pad and gave the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead early.
This was a trademark vintage power-skating type of play for Toews, which led to his 6th goal of the season and 298th goal of his illustrious career. That lead would not last long for the Blackhawks, though.
The Rangers generated sustained pressure a couple minutes later, and forward Brett Howden tipped a puck on net which caromed back to the point. Defenseman Brendan Smith sent a quick shot in on Crawford, only for the rebound to go directly to Crawford’s left side. Rangers’ forward Pavel Buchnevich was there to hammer home the rebound and tie the game for the visitors.
The game entered the first intermission tied with Chicago having the shot advantage, 11-7.
Second Period
Both teams came out after the first intermission looking to dictate the pace of play, with the Blackhawks taking the slight advantage. They had a few strong chances in the early portion of the period, but nothing resulted from those opportunities.
Near the midpoint of the period, the Luke Johnson line put together a strong shift in the offensive zone when Nick Schmaltz gathered the puck and began to skate in circles. Schmaltz was able to find a lane to the net on the right side of the ice. He dished the puck to across the goal crease to a wide open Alexandre Fortin and, at the 10:33 mark, Fortin collected his second goal of the season and of his NHL career.
The Rangers had a few late chances but were not able to capitalize, and the Blackhawks took their 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Chicago once again led in shots on goal for the period (12-11) and through two periods (23-18).
Third Period
Both teams came out with more energy in the third and traded chances throughout most of the period. New York came on strong as the third went on, putting some good chances toward the net. However, none of these opportunities seemed to ever reach Crawford, as he saw minimal action in the third.
In the second half of the period, a puck squeaked past Lundqvist after a scramble in the blue paint, but the whistle was already blown. Therefore, according to officials, the play was not reviewable and there was no goal on the ice.
However, the Blackhawks capitalized on the next scrum in the visitor’s goal crease. After a spectacular individual effort by Alex DeBrincat, the Hawks sniper found an open Artem Anisimov on the right side of the ice. Anisimov held the puck briefly before dishing to Patrick Kane in the blue paint. Kane’s initial tip hit the post and dribbled back into the crease, but Kane buried the second attempt for his 9th goal on 10 games this season.
Originally, the play was called no goal, however upon review, it was called a good goal by the NHL war room. Based on the referee’s verbiage while explaining the call, it was believed that the puck did not initially enter the net legally. After review, it was clear Kane had put the puck in with his stick, therefore a good goal. New York would challenge for goaltender interference only to lose the challenge with the call standing. The score was 3-1 Blackhawks at the 15:39 mark.
DeBrincat added an empty net goal at the 18:51 mark for his 8th goal of the season to ice the game. Brandon Manning dropped the gloves with Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey with under a minute remaining, as the New York frustration boiled over. A late game of keep away assured the Blackhawks victory, as they defeated the Rangers 4-1.
Chicago outshot the Rangers by a final tally of 37-19.
The Good:
Four lines: Thursday night marked the first game this season where all four lines were noticeable. Although left off the score sheet, the Kruger (“fourth”) line had a few long shifts while maintaining possession in the offensive zone, one such shift leading to a powerplay for Chicago. John Hayden was by far the best forward on this line. The Johnson line was dangerous all night. They ultimately scored the game-winning goal and Luke Johnson had a strong outing. The Anisimov line scored late and the top line accounted for two goals from DeBrincat and Toews. It’s safe to say this was the best team game played through ten games.
Fortin: Alexandre Fortin continues to be a positive addition to the lineup. His speed was on display against the Rangers and he has learned to get to the net. Fortin’s second goal of his career and of his season would be the game-winning tally. If he continues to make a living on the third line, he may not be returned to Rockford at any point this season.
Crawford: Corey Crawford continues to defy all expectations as he picked up his third consecutive win since returning to game action. He has not allowed more than one goal against in those three games. Crawford continues to mask the defensive problems for this team, but he is certainly defying expectations for a 33 year old goaltender who just missed almost an entire year with a concussion.
The Not So Good:
Defense: Once again, Chicago’s defense was spotty at best. New York had some good chances throughout the game, but Crawford came up huge at those times to cover for them. With the return of Connor Murphy on the horizon, the defense may be able to improve soon. Until then, the defense will continue to be a liability for this team moving forward.
Powerplay: Once again, the powerplay looked horrible. Chicago continues to try and implement the 1-3-1 system on the powerplay, but do not have the appropriate personnel for the system to be successful. Duncan Keith is playing in the high slot position (see T.J. Oshie with the Washington Capitals) and Brent Seabrook is playing the QB role at the point. In a perfect system, a much more dangerous scorer would be in the high slot and a better offensive defenseman (like a Henri Jokiharju or Erik Gustafsson) would fit better on the point. The powerplay was 0-4 on the evening and continues to struggle through approximately ⅛ of the season.
Faceoffs: Faceoffs drive possession numbers. The Blackhawks have historically played much better and controlled more games when they possess the puck. Toews cannot be the only center winning draws. Chicago was 48% in the dot as a team, where Kruger and Anisimov were both under 50% during the contest.
Fun Facts:
- Corey Crawford only faced one shot in the entire third period.
- Kane’s 9 goals in the first 10 games is the first time a Blackhawks player has accomplished this feat since Jeremy Roenick during the 1993-1994 season.
- Corey Crawford has won three straight games, only giving up one goal in each of those contests. He is now 3-1 in four games this season.