After Viktor Ejdsell’s recent Blackhawk debut, it was the much-touted Dylan Sikura’s turn to premiere last night at the UC in an otherwise meaningless late season game versus Winnipeg.
However, recent startup goalie Collin Delia was a surprise starter as well. And, oh yeah, it was the 1000th NHL game for career Blackhawk and 3-time Cup winner, Brent Seabrook.
The Hawks’ lines and pairings were:
Brandon Saad-Nick Schmaltz-Patrick Kane
Dylan Sikura-Viktor Ejdsell-Alex Debrincat
Tomas Jurco-Artem Anisimov-Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Sharp-David Kampf-Vince Hinostroza
Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson-Connor Murphy
Jordan Oesterle-Jan Rutta
Coming off a couple of performances that ranged from mostly solid to outstanding, Anton Forsberg was supposed to occupy the Hawk net for a third straight game. However, Forsberg incurred an undisclosed injury during warmups—accelerating the timetable for Delia’s debut. Someone named Scott Foster was signed as the emergency backup. Could Gatekeeper be next?
First period. In a matchup of inexperienced goalies, it seemed like the whole building was waiting to see which ‘tender would cave first. At 16:16 of the first, it was Winnipeg netminder Eric Comrie who let a Patrick Kane shot slip through his pads, after an ill-advised Dustn Byfuglien pinch led to a Hawk 3-on-1. 1-0 Chicago Then, Brandon Saad made it 2-0 at 2:53 with a slick stickhandling move around Comrie, assisted by Nick Schmaltz. Delia did what he had to in the first, making a few nice saves in the latter portion of the period, and getting a nifty break—when a rebound of a Byfuglien point blast floated up over his head and landed just on the edge of the top of the net. Shots were 14-14 for the period.
Second period. The two teams traded a few chances early on in the second until, at 15:34, Tomas “6 Weeks” Jurco further exposed a struggling Comrie with a bank-in goal from behind the Winnipeg net. 3-0 Chicago. And on a strange night, it was none other than Jurco who stretched the lead to 4-0 after a nice pinch and feed through the slot from Erik Gustafsson at 8:47. Winnipeg finally solved Delia at 5:36, when Byfuglien lobbed a point shot through traffic to beat the Hawk netminder. 4-1. Just prior to this score and immediately after, the Jets appeared to be taking over play for longer stretches, keeping the Hawks pinned in their own end at times. But it wouldn’t be long before Gustafsson broke free and gathered a long Alex Debrincat feed, beating Comrie to push the lead back to four goals at 2:33. A few ticks later, Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor set up Mark Scheifele on a bang-bang play at 1:09, in what was developing as more of a rat hockey game at the Polar Dome in West Dundee—Delia had no chance. 5-2 Chicago. Shots were 29-23 Chicago after 2 periods.
Third period. Alex Debrincat blasted a shot past Comrie from the left circle at 17:39. Rookie Dylan Sikura picked up his second assist of the night on the goal. That made it 6-2 Chicago. At 14:01 of the period, things got both interesting and borderline comical. Delia sustained an obvious leg injury and had to be helped from the ice, necessitating that emergency backup goalie, 36 year old former Western Michigan University Bronco Scott Foster has to quickly dress and go into the contest. In a The-Rink.com exclusive report, Stan Bowman was overheard at that point whispering to Al McIsaac, “Do you have that Osgood guy’s number.? Wait . . . Os-born? Are you sure?!” As fate would have it, it wouldn’t be long before “Bananas” Foster—who stopped all 7 shots he faced—would become shrouded in a haze of Blackhawk Myth and Legend, in one of the strangest games anyone can remember.
The good. Gustafsson was up and down, but more up than down overall. He is a player who does great things coming up the ice as part of the offensive play. It’s playing actual defense where he struggles and gets pushed around quite a bit. You have to give credit where it’s due. Jurco has worked hard the last handful of games, and he was rewarded with a couple of easy/fluky goals in this one. Delia, for the most part was pretty good in his NHL debut. And Scott Foster getting first star? Why not?
The bad. Comrie. His team didn’t help him much, but he was pretty rocky all night.
The ugly. Winnipeg. The Jets looked like garbage. Semi- to uninterested much of the night. Even NBC Sports Chicago color guy Eddie Olczyk remarked earlier on that the Jets looked like they were out enjoying the nightlife the evening before the game—and their play at times, and especially on the Hawks’ fourth goal, spoke to that possibility.
Summary. This game will have zero impact on standings—and it only hurts the Hawks’ potential draft position—but it was also memorable, and somewhat fun to watch as a Hawk fan. As first reported last night on the Twitterz by would-be Hawk emergency goalie, Gatekeeper, Delia left the game with cramps. He’ll be OK.
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