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Hold Fast Hope: Blackhawks 3, Ducks 2

Posted on by Dave Melton

Exactly the script we expected, right?

A pair of goals from Jarred Tinordi led the Chciago Blackhawks to a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at the Honda Center.

The Blackhawks played their worst first period of the season in this game, and it started with a Troy Terry goal just 19 seconds in that quickly made it a 1-0 Anaheim lead:

As the Anaheim shots and chances piled up, so did a second goal, this one scored by Adam Henrique at the 11:13 mark of the first:

There was a brief port in the storm of Anaheim chances: this goal from Tinordi after a slick pass from Max Domi:

The first period ended with Anaheim up 2-1, and that advantage lasted until the 4:04 mark of the second period when Filip Roos scored his first career NHL goal to tie the game up at two:

The rest of the second period was highlighted by a steller four-minute Blackhawks penalty kill. The third period was mostly uneventful until Tinordi broke the deadlock with his second goal of the night, thanks to a fortunate bounce:

And that goal ended up as the game-winner in Chicago’s 3-2 victory.

It’s late, so let’s get to the notes.

Notes

  • Filed under the category of “unsustainable versions of winning hockey”: picking up two points because your veteran journeyman defense doubled his career total of goals in one game. The Blackhawks feel less worthy of the labels of bad or good or anything other than “weird.”
  • Let’s explore a player usage angle. With two minutes remaining and Chicago up 3-2, coach Luke Richardson sent out the Kane-Domi-Kurashev line for a neutral zone draw. That line was out there for about 50 seconds before an icing call required them to take the next draw. A timeout was called, and then that trio stayed out for about 40 more seconds — a sequence which ended with Anaheim’s John Klingberg hitting the crossbar. The important thing to understand here is that, on that draw after the timeout, Domi won it and the Hawks cleared the puck, meaning that there was an opportunity to get that line off the ice — but it didn’t happen. Just seems odd to have what’s probably the Hawks least defensively responsible line out there for roughly 75 percent of the final two minutes. Nothing too major, just something worth keeping an eye on.
  • Add this game to the support for Arvid Soderblom being a viable long-term option in net for the Hawks. Without him, this game is probably over before the first intermission.
  • What else is there to say about the first period other than it being completely unacceptable? Anaheim could very well be the worst team in the league yet the Hawks were out attempted 29-9, outshot 19-5 and out-chanced 16-5. The Ducks had an absurd 80.87 percent share of the expected goals. And, as documented in the preview, Anaheim was one of the worst teams in the league based on statistics advanced or not. Some credit can be given for their response in the latter two periods but that does not offset just how bad they were in the first. That just can’t happen — not against a team like the Ducks. /

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Jarred Tinordi (CHI) — 2 goals
  2. Arvid Soderblom (CHI) — 39 saves on 41 shots
  3. Troy Terry (ANA) — 1 goal, 1 assist

What’s next

The Blackhawks return home to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at the United Center.

Talking Points