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RECAP: Blackhawks finally ignite, take down Stars 6–2

  
RECAP: Blackhawks finally ignite, take down Stars 6–2
Taylor Hall celebrates after scoring against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Hall recorded his first Blackhawks hat trick in the 6–2 victory. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo via WGN Radio)

The Chicago Blackhawks looked to rebound on Wednesday night against the Dallas Stars after their 3–2 overtime loss against the Flyers on Saturday. They looked good most of the game, but lost momentum toward the end against the Flyers, and ended up giving away what should have been a victory. The lineup changes for Wednesday were minimal, with Philipp Kurashev coming in for Joey Anderson and Wyatt Kaiser coming in for Nolan Allan on defense.

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First period

The Blackhawks got this one started right off the jump. Taylor Hall skated into the offensive zone with the puck and 17 seconds in, put the Blackhawks up 1–0 on a nice wrist shot.

Just under five and a half minutes later, Hall would strike again. Ryan Donato stopped the puck up the boards on a clearing attempt by Casey DeSmith. He got a pass out in front to Hall, who tucked it around the pad, 2–0 Blackhawks.

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The hat trick watch would continue into the second, though, as the first period ended up 2–0 Blackhawks.

Second period

Having ended the first on the power play, the Blackhawks got started on the man advantage in the second. Very quickly, that advantage would be over. Tyler Bertuzzi held the puck in at the point and got the puck over to Connor Bedard, who wristed the puck over DeSmith’s shoulder, 3–0 Blackhawks, ending a lengthy drought for Bedard.

Then, just under three minutes later, the Blackhawks would strike again. Teuvo Teravainen took a pass just outside the circles and wristed a shot to the back of the net, 4–0 Chicago.

However, 35 seconds later, the Stars got one back. Former Blackhawk forward Colin Blackwell chipped in the puck from in front of the net, 4–1 Blackhawks.

The second period just kept on giving goals. Hall got his fifth hat trick of his career, with a wrister from the left circle just after a power play expired.

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Then, recent call-up Louis Crevier got in on the action with his first in his NHL career, putting the Blackhawks up by five off a beautiful setup from Ilya Mikheyev.

The second period would end with Chicago leading by a massive 6–1 margin.

Third period

The third period was rather uneventful, as the main action was two penalties against the Blackhawks. They were able to kill off the first, but not the second, as Matt Duchene potted a power play goal for the visitors. The game would end with a 6–2 Blackhawks victory.

Analysis

This was a dominant effort by the Blackhawks. The offense was firing on all cylinders, Petr Mrazek made the stops that he was asked to and some he was not and the amount of blocked shots was higher than one would expect based on the scoresheet. Hall got his first hat trick as a Blackhawk, and Bedard got off his goalless drought as well. All lines had something going in this one, which is always impressive when unexpected players are chipping in to make things happen. All around, a great game, and maybe the Blackhawks’ best this season.

The Blackhawks next play against the Minnesota Wild on Friday afternoon in Minnesota. That game will be on CHSN at 1 p.m. CST.

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