Following an impressive win against the Pittsburgh Penguins this past Saturday night, the Blackhawks travelled to Tampa, Florida to face their 2015 Stanley Cup opponent, the Lightning. While the Blackhawks seemed to be trending upwards, They were facing the hottest team and players in the NHL this season. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov came into the game numbers one and two in the entire NHL in scoring with 35 and 33 points respectively. Stamkos was leading the NHL with 25 assists and Kucherov was leading the NHL in goals with 17. That wasn’t the only category that a Bolts player led the league, as goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy led the league with 14 wins and was in the top 10 for goals against average, save percentage and shutouts.
The Blackhawks had a goaltender in the top 10 of all major goaltending stat categories, as well. Corey Crawford came into the game in the top 5 overall for goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. Artem Anisimov was one of the hottest players in the NHL, also, with 7 goals in 8 games. Not too shabby, but the big money players needed to start producing. One of them actually did step up in this one.
These are the starting lines:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Richard Panik
Nick Schmaltz – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp – Ryan Hartman – Alex DeBrincat
Lance Bouma – Tommy Wingels – John Hayden
Duncan Keith – Cody Franson
Connor Murphy – Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling – Jan Rutta
The Blackhawks wasted little time taking a lead in this game. Just four minutes into the first period, red-hot Artem Anisimov sent Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz on the Blackhawks second odd man break of the period. Kane didn’t even bother with trying to force a pass over to Schmaltz and beat the goalie, Vasilevskiy, who was very deep in his net.
As will happen with this frustrating team, the Blackhawks quickly ended up killing a John Hayden double minor for high sticking JT Brown. This was really not the opportunity that you wanted to hand the Lightning. Even worse, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews took another penalty while killing the first double minor, which put the Blackhawks down two players. Luckily enough, the Blackhawks killed off all three penalties pretty impressively.
Not only did they kill off multiple penalties, but the Hawks picked right up where’s they left off, eventually earning a 5-on-3 power play of their own. This time, though, the Blackhawks 5-on-3 produced a goal. They finally looked like the team we all thought they were, passing quickly and opening up lanes. Defenseman Cody Franson eventually found Patrick Kane across the slot, at a tight angle, and hit Kane with a perfect pass. Kane used his pinpoint accuracy to beat Vasilevskiy, who had bitten on the Franson pass and was way out of position. This sent the Hawks into the intermission up 2-0 and leading the shocked Lightning team in shots 13-11.
The second period opened with the Blackhawks killing off the remainder of a carry-over penalty from the first period and then, once again, got another power play of their own. This time, though, a failed 3-on-1 for the Blackhawks ended up turning into a shorthanded chance for the Lightning that ended up being their first goal of the game. Defenseman Viktor Hedman led the rush 1-on-2 and amazingly dropped the puck back to Ryan Callahan, who quickly fed Ondrej Palat. Palat had a wide open net and the Lightning were back in the game.
The game settled down for the remainder of the middle frame. Once the penalties stopped coming, the goals and major chances slowed down quite a bit. That peace only lasted until the final two minutes of the period when Jan Rutta put the Blackhawks down a man, and the Bolts laid the pressure on pretty thick. Corey Crawford was up to the challenge, again, though.
Thirty one seconds into the third period, the Lightning tied the game up after a blocked shot ended up on the tape of Chris Kunitz. Kunitz was able to power a shot through the Hawks goalie and, just that quick, the Blackhawks solid play only earned them a tie game.
Tampa Bay’s pressure certainly didn’t stop there, though. Most of the third period was played in the Blackhawks end, which produced a 12-10 Bolts shot advantage. This isn’t to say the Blackhawks had no chances, because Andrei Vasilevskiy had to make a couple of highlight reel saves to keep the game tied.
In the overtime the goaltending mastery continued, with both goalies making huge saves in their own end. Patrick Kane was even stopped on a long breakaway chance by the Bolts goaltender. Unfortunately, Nick Schmaltz took a questionable penalty with just under two minutes remaining in the extra period. It only took the Lightning a matter of seconds before they caught the Blackhawks running around and slammed home the game winner.
Pluses
- I think we’re all aware that hits are one of the most overrated stats in the entire sport, but I have been very happy with Lance Bouma. He goes out, plays his physical game, and doesn’t generally take stupid penalties. He’s pretty quick on his feet, and has some decent hands for a ham thrower.
- I might be Cody Franson’s biggest fan, but he went from 7th rotation defenseman to first pair power play, and he has done very well there.
- The aforementioned power play has finally started passing quicker and, magically, started producing several very dangerous chances. Go figure! You would think it was quantum physics.
- On a night where Scott Darling let a floater in from the center line, Corey Crawford was on top of his game. What more do people need Crawford to do? The guy is as dialed in as he can be. This is beginning to sound like a broken record, but without Crawford this game could have easily been ugly for the Blackhawks.
- After being pretty quiet as of late, Patrick Kane had a good game; in the first period that is. The rest of the game he kind of disappeared.
Minuses
- I know he was playing very well lately, but this was not one of Alex Debrincat’s best. He had a horrible turnover in the third period that almost tied the game just seconds in.
- Sure the Hawks started off really well, but then the offense went missing. That kind of production against the league’s top team will get you these kind of results, or possibly worse.
- Jan Rutta and Gustav Forsling had a brutal possession night, but they weren’t alone. Everyone but Connor Murphy, Nick Schmaltz and Patrick Kane were under water in possession.