The Vegas Golden Knights were in town, Saturday, to face the Blackhawks for the third time this season. The Golden Knights took the first two games of the series, but this Blackhawks team is certainly different than the one Vegas last faced on December 6th.
Golden Knights Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland and Max Pacioretty paced the second year franchise with four points each, coming in, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was boasting a 3.01 goals against average with his 2-0-0 record against the Blackhawks.
This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Alex DeBrincat – Jonathan Toews – Dominik Kahun
Artem Anisimov – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad – David Kampf – Drake Caggiula
Chris Kunitz – Marcus Kruger – John Hayden
Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Henri Jokiharju – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy
In goal, the Blackhawks had rookie Collin Delia, making his third start in a row. Most notable scratch was brand new Blackhawks defenseman Slater Koekkoek (KOO-KOO), who was acquired late Friday afternoon for Jan Rutta. Brendan Perlini and Brandon Davidson also took the night off.
Period One
For the first three minutes of the game, the Blackhawks were thoroughly out-played but Alex DeBrincat made amends about two minutes later. The “Cat” intercepted a puck on the way to Marc-Andre Fleury, and tucked it around the veteran’s pads for a Blackhawks 1-0 lead. This was Debrincat’s fourth goal in as many games, who has obviously heated up once again, lately.
Have a holly jolly volley, Alex!
Text HAWKSGIVE to 52-182 to support the #Blackhawks Foundation!#BlackhawksGive pic.twitter.com/PB3V9amgSD
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2019
With about eight minutes remaining in the opening period the Blackhawks seemed to have taken a 2-0 lead, when Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome crashed the net. Kane found a loose puck and beat Fleury, but Vegas coach Gerard Gallant challenged a missed offside call when the Blackhawks entered the zone. As a result the goal was overturned.
Kane didn’t stay off the score sheet for much longer, though. Following a high sticking penalty against new Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula, with just over five minutes left in the first period, the recently hot power play went to work. Kane tried to beat Fleury from the top of the right circle but the initial shot was blocked. Kane followed up his original shot and used a Vegas defenders skate to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead.
I Kane see clearly now!
Text HAWKSGIVE to 52-182 to support the #Blackhawks Foundation.#BlackhawksGive pic.twitter.com/EUwiOldAKg
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2019
The Golden Knights had some serious pressure on Blackhawks starter Collin Delia, in the final minutes of the period, but hit the crossbar twice. Vegas also led in shots 11-10 as the teams hit the locker rooms.
Period Two
A minutes and half into the second period, the Blackhawks had some problems clearing the front of their net and Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch was able to beat a loose puck past Delia, who had some difficulty gathering the rebound into his glove.
After Brandon Saad drew a high-sticking double minor penalty the hard way, the Blackhawks went back on the powerplay. As has been the result, lately, they cashed in on the ensuing man advantage.
Patrick Kane held on to the puck long enough to draw all the attention from the penalty killers, which opened up gaping area for Alex DeBrincat to slide into. Kane dished a perfect pass into DeBrincat’s wheelhouse and the young wing hit the back of the net.
One can never get tired of watching these #KanerAndTheCat plays!
Text HAWKSGIVE to 52-182 to support the #Blackhawks Foundation.#BlackhawksGive pic.twitter.com/w4FNrPCOmH
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2019
As the period wound down, the Golden Knights cut the Blackhawks lead down to just one goal. Ryan Carpenter curled the puck slightly back into himself as he entered the Chicago zone and used defenseman Carl Dahlstrom as a screen. Just as Dahlstrom’s leg cleared, Carpenter snapped the puck over Delia’s glove.
The home team was out shot (once again) in the second period 10-8 and 21-18 overall, as they went into the third period up 3-2.
Period Three
With about seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Golden Knights got a goal off the skate of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, but Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton challenged the play. The war room in Toronto ruled that the puck was directed in with a kicking motion and the score remained 3-2 in favor of the home team.
That Blackhawks lead did not last much longer, as Paul Stastny got a generous carom off the post and only had to beat Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy to potentially send the game to overtime with four minutes remaining in regulation. The Golden Knights led the Blackhawks in shots on net 12-5 in the third period, so it was pretty incredible that Chicago only gave up one goal.
In overtime, Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore beat Carl Dahlstrom around the edge and then got a lucky deflection off Dahlstrom’s stick to beat Delia. That gave Vegas the extra point, but the Blackhawks were lucky to be in that position anyway.
Pluses
- Alex DeBrincat has been excellent. He has goals in four straight games and two in this game. Certainly, nice to see him getting red-hot, once again. His major downfall is his streakiness, so if he can fix that issue he will be even more deadly, if you can imagine that.
- Speaking of Alex’s, Alex Tuch is a beast of a player. How did Minnesota let him go? Well, it’s certainly better for the Blackhawks if he is not in the Central Division, so I’m not complaining.
- If not for an unfortunate missed offside call, Patrick Kane would have had three points.
Minuses
- Henri Jokiharju has not looked like he did before he left for the World Junior Championships. It could have something to do with not having a former Norris trophy by his side, or it might be that he was playing his off-side. Either way, he needs to be better, with eight defensemen on the roster.
- When you’re out shot 33-23, at home, and only lose 4-3 in overtime, you are playing with fire. Goaltending is not the problem with this Blackhawks team, plain and simple. GIVING UP TEN MORE SHOTS THAN YOUR OPPONENT IS THE PROBLEM!That said, there might be a goal that Delia wants back but he was a huge reason they made it to overtime in the first place. Not only were the Hawks out-shot, but they also gave up more high danger opportunities, 8-6.
- I’m not sure who broke Dylan Strome, but he won only 5-15 faceoffs.
- Why was Carl Dahlstrom even on the ice in a 3vs3 situation? They had at least four better options. Murphy and Dahlstrom were absolutely caved in all night. They were -12 in shot differential when they were on the ice, 5-on-5.
- I have no idea what Chris Kunitz does. Neither do you. No one does. He’s playing fourth line, so it really doesn’t matter, but he is a waste of a roster spot. At this point, I’d rather see Graham Knott out there and I’m not a fan of Knott, at all.