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RECAP: Blackhawks Down Stars 5-2 in Dallas

  
Goal Celebration
Photo by Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images

After a big win against the Nashville Predators Tuesday night at the United Center, the Blackhawks looked to make it two in a row against yet another division rival on Thursday night.

The Blackhawks arrived in Dallas Thursday night for the second of three straight divisional matchups. Head Coach Jeremy Colliton hit the switch on the “line blender” once again upon the return of Gustav Forsling and Artem Anisimov. The line combinations were as follows:

Saad – Toews – Kahun

Strome – Anisimov – Kane

DeBrincat – Kampf – Sikura

Hayden – Johnson – Perlini

Keith – Gustafsson

Forsling – Seabrook

Dahlstrom – Murphy

Ward

With defenseman Henri Jokiharju being loaned to the Finnish World Junior team, Erik Gustafsson got a look as a top-2 defenseman.

First Period:

A mere 15 seconds into Thursday’s contest, Cam Ward faced his first quality chance. A John Klingberg wrist shot found its way behind Ward in the blue paint. Fortunately, Erik Gustafsson was in the right place at the right time and swept the puck back under his goaltender. A fast start for the Stars may have left some fans and players worried about Thursday’s outcome.

Soon after the Stars’ early chance, the Blackhawks generated one of their own. A set face-off play to the right of Ben Bishop worked to near perfection for the first tally of the contest. David Kampf tied up his defender after the face-off win as Dylan Sikura jumped on the puck. Sikura tapped a light pass to his fellow wing Alex DeBrincat as they criss-crossed around the dot. DeBrincat fired a rocket to the top corner for his 15th goal of the season.

Brandon Saad created numerous quality chances early on. In the first five minutes of the period, Saad had two partial breakaways, nearly capitalizing on the first one. Saad lifted a backhand high on Bishop, who was in perfect position to make the save. Had he been a few inches shorter, it could have been a 2-0 Blackhawks lead.

Both teams traded chances throughout the period with both goaltenders making some incredible saves to keep the score deadlocked at 1-0. With 3:43 remaining in the period, Alexander Radulov was called for a clear slashing penalty, which sent Chicago to the power play for the first, and ultimately only, time of the game.

With just under a minute remaining on the Blackhawks man advantage, Patrick Kane fired a slapshot on Bishop from the left-wing side of the ice. The rebound came straight back to Kane as he quickly passed the puck across ice to Gustafsson on the opposite face-off dot. Gustafsson passed the puck back to DeBrincat at the point for a give-and-go, and Gustafsson fired the return pass glove side on Bishop. The Blackhawks took the 2-0 lead late in the first period.

Second Period:

The Blackhawks once again found life early in the period, similar to that of the first period. With less than two minutes of play gone, Connor Murphy found Artem Anisimov at the Stars’ blue line. As he began up ice he found a flying Patrick Kane cutting to the net and without any wasted motion, Kane beat Bishop on a backhand to the glove side to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

Nearly mid-way through the middle frame, the Stars big line of Tyler Seguin, Benn and Radulov generated zone time deep against the Blackhawks. Jamie Benn won a board battle against both Connor Murphy and Dylan Strome and found Tyler Seguin parked in front for the Stars’ first goal of the game. Seguin was able to sneak to an open spot, about five feet in front of Ward, and after a perfect feed from Benn, had no trouble finding twine with his opportunity.

The Stars found some more life late, as Jason Dickinson won a board battle against two Blackhawks, a play that looked eerily familiar after the first Stars goal. Dickinson found a crashing Stars defenseman for a high quality chance, but Cam Ward made an incredible save to keep the Blackhawks two goal lead.

Third Period:

The early portion of the period was highlighted with big saves from Ward and Bishop. A post saved what could have been the Stars’ second goal, and the game remained 3-1 after five-plus minutes into the final frame.

With just under fourteen minutes remaining, Alexander Radulov took a puck in behind the net and flipped a harmless backhand toward Ward. Benn was out in front and created a bit of a scrum with Blackhawks defenders, at that moment, the puck trickled to the other side of the blue paint where defenseman Taylor Fedun tapped home the loose puck to cut the Blackhawks lead in half. Cam Ward was looking for a goaltender interference call on Jamie Benn, but he did not receive it.

The Blackhawks continued to pepper Ben Bishop for the remainder of the period but could not find the back of the net with any of their opportunities. With two minutes remaining, the Stars pulled Bishop for an extra attacker.

At that time, the Blackhawks gained possession and had a two-on-two chance after it looked like a Stars player collided with the linesman. Patrick Kane found the puck at the Stars’ blue line and walked into the zone to score his second goal of the game on the empty net.

Soon after Kane’s goal, the Stars won a face-off and immediately turned the puck over to the Blackhawks. Brendan Perlini out skated both Stars defenders to tap home the second empty net goal and Perlini’s second as a member of the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks take the victory in Dallas by a 5-2 final score.

Quick Hits:

  • Cam Ward has been very good the last two games for the Blackhawks. He has put the team on his shoulders after the awful injury to Corey Crawford, who could be done for the year, and possibly his career, after yet another concussion. If he continues to play like this, the Blackhawks may steal some big games as we approach late December.
  • Brandon Saad was very noticeable again, despite not showing on the scoresheet. He is generating offense for himself and will hopefully have a month similar to that of his November. Saad posted 8 points in 11 games for the month.
  • Jeremy Colliton has really put former head coach Joel Quenneville to shame with his blending of the lines. Now that he is approaching twenty games as Blackhawks head coach, he seems to have settled on certain players playing certain roles. Ideally, some of these lines would be allowed to gel more and perhaps create even better outcomes for the rest of the season.

The Blackhawks have no time to rest as they take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight in Denver. Puck drop is set for 8:00pm CST.

 

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