One would hope that when you face the lowliest team in the NHL, you would be able to pull out a victory 10 times out of 10, right? When the Chicago Blackhawks had the San Jose Sharks on the schedule for Tuesday night, it looked like the Hawks might finally get back into the win column.
The biggest change to the lineup was Connor Murphy coming out in exchange for Jarred Tinordi, as Murphy had missed a couple practices due to maintenance this week. The lineup otherwise remained unchanged.
First period
After only three shots apiece through the first 10 minutes of the game, the Blackhawks went on the power play. Ryan Donato got the puck right out in front for the initial shot on goal. Cole Guttman got the rebound from there, putting it through his legs off of the defenseman in front of the net and scoring, 1–0. The rest of the period was fairly uneventful. The Sharks had a power play, which was killed off successfully by the Blackhawks. We moved on to the second with the score 1–0 Blackhawks.
Second period
The second period did not add to the score. It did bring us this heavyweight battle between Tinordi and Scott Sabourin, in which both landed some huge blows.
The heavyweights are goin at it 😤 pic.twitter.com/SvK0htkE87
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) January 17, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Petr Mrazek stood on his head in this period, stopping everything in sight. He was able to get a glove, stick, blocker or pad on anything coming his way. All 15 of the Sharks’ shots did not find twine in this frame thanks to his brilliant goaltending.
The United Center also had someone playing Pro Skater on the Jumbotron during the intermission, which was a fun thing to see. The period would end the same way it started, 1–0 Blackhawks.
Ohhhh the @NHLBlackhawks had someone playing @tonyhawk’s Pro Skater last night on the JumboTron during intermission 👀 pic.twitter.com/JgPGFIRq5Q
— X Games (@XGames) January 17, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Third period
It took five minutes and 13 seconds, but the Sharks finally figured out Mrazek. Former Blackhawk Ryan Carpenter got the puck from in behind the net and put it right under the pads of Mrazek, knotting things up 1–1. This game was headed for overtime.
Overtime
Each team managed only a couple of shots each in the period, and were not able to put anything in the net. The Sharks came scary close at the end, as Tomas Hertl got a shot that snuck through Mrzaek. Kevin Korchinski cleared the rebound to the corner before damage could be done, sending things to the shootout.
Shootout
After the first shooter for both teams were stopped, the Sharks’ second shooter proved successful. Kevin Labanc put the Sharks up, and with the Blackhawks having only one chance to tie it back up. In Rem Pitlick’s fourth game as a Blackhawk, he had a chance to put them right back into the game. With an absolutely gorgeous move, he did. He slipped the puck right past the outstretched skate of Mackenzie Blackwood, making it all tied up again going into the fourth frame of the shootout.
Boris Katchouk came up for the Blackhawks in the ninth round of the shootout. He put one past Blackwood, putting the Blackhawks up. Then, Mrazek stopped Filip Zadina of the Sharks, giving the Blackhawks the 2–1 victory.
Analysis
Mrazek has proven that this team would be so much worse without him. They would not have won so many of the games that has started this season if it was not for his strong play. This is one of those games that could have gone against the Blackhawks if they did not have a goaltender capable of stopping everything thrown his way.
The Blackhawks’ next game is on Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres in New York. That game will be on TNT at 6:30 p.m. CST.