The Blackhawks went into San Jose on Sunday night looking to rebound from an extremely disappointing loss in Los Angeles on Saturday and hoped to hand the first place Sharks a key loss—keeping alive what were already slim playoff hopes.
Cam Ward started in net, in the second game of a back-to-back after Corey Crawford still struggled to shake some rust off versus the Kings the night before in LA. Slater Koekkoek had the night off after drawing into the lineup in Saturday’s game and struggling. Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson were out of the game for the Sharks, leaving them down a couple of key players in a game in which they would like to get some points. Head Coach Jeremy Colliton hoped to reinvigorate this team by mixing up the lineup, which saw multiple players moving up and down the lineup.
The starting lines were as follows:
Chris Kunitz – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Brendan Perlini
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Dominik Kahun
John Hayden – Marcus Kruger – Dylan Sikura
Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy
1st Period:
At the 8:16 mark of the first period, the Blackhawks drew a penalty when Forsling was tripped in the defensive zone. The Chicago power play got some good chances, as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews tried to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, but nothing materialized.
A few minutes later, at the 12:16 mark of the period, Tomas Hertl managed to slide through the changing Blackhawks defense and lift the puck over a sprawled out Ward and into the back of the net. The Blackhawks managed to get a few more chances as the period went on, with the Brendan Perlini line getting some good pressure in front of Martin Jones but, again, nothing became of it.
In the final minute of the period, Dylan Strome led a 2-on-1 down the ice with Alex DeBrincat but held onto the puck. Strome fired it past Jones at the 19:33 mark of the period to send the teams to the dressing room knotted in a 1-1 tie.
Strome and DeBrincat team up to tie it up at the end of the 1st period!
📲: https://t.co/JQ4FxNzkle pic.twitter.com/gpkuf3UCWl
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 4, 2019
2nd Period:
Gustav Nyquist started off the period with an area pass to Logan Couture, whose tip was saved nicely by Ward.
A minute later, Tim Heed put a slap pass toward the front of the net that directed off of Joonas Donskoi and Timo Meier before finding the twine. 2-1, San Jose.
The Sharks had a couple more good chances with Michael Haley in front of the net and Barclay Goodrow getting a rebound chance, but Ward stood tall and stopped both shots.
Later, Erik Gustafsson managed to put the puck past Jones after a nice give and go with Jonathan Toews and a nice wrist shot through traffic, knotting the game up at two each. 2-2.
Oh, you say you have some high-scoring defensemen?
Meet GUS! 📲: https://t.co/JQ4FxNzkle pic.twitter.com/MqaXI08YDP
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 4, 2019
With just over 14 minutes gone by in the period, the Sharks got some really good pressure on in front of Ward, peppering the defense with pressure and shots on goal, all of which were stopped.
With 17:37 left in the period, though, the Hawks got a chance on the power play. Alex DeBrincat missed the net with the best chance of the man advantage when he hoisted a Toews feed over the net and hit the glass, and the period ended with a 2-2 tie.
3rd Period:
After a back and forth couple of minutes to begin the final period, the Sharks gained possession, with Joe Thornton outmuscling Artem Anisimov to feed the puck out in front for a top shelf goal by Marcus Sorensen, making it a 3-2 Sharks lead.
Later, the Sharks then went on the power play, after a tripping call on Brendan Perlini, which gave the Sharks a prime opportunity to increase their lead. While the Blackhawks killed off the initial penalty, the Sharks had a delayed penalty coming when Patrick Kane slashed Michael Haley, who persevered to take the puck behind the net and then fed it out in front to a waiting Brent Burns who ripped a shot that went off of the Sharks’ Melker Karlsson to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead.
The Hawks kept bringing the puck into the Sharks’ zone, but the Sharks played stonewall defense, blocking passes and shots to stymie the chances Chicago generated. The Blackhawks looked like they had nothing left, as shot after shot was being blocked by a player or stopped by Jones.
Melker Karlsson scored again on an empty net goal late in the period to put things away for good. The Blackhawks have dropped 4 of their last 5 games, and the last 2 in a row.
The Blackhawks’ next game is at home versus the Buffalo Sabres, starting at 7:30 CT.