It was always going to take something weird to snap the Blackhawks’ 22-game road losing streak, along with the ongoing funk of a 1-12-3 stretch.
Four power-play goals from the worst power-play unit in the league sufficed on Tuesday night in the desert as the Blackhawks won 5-2 over the Arizona Coyotes.
Chicago’s power play started the scoring in the middle of the first period while operating with a two-man advantage. This point blast from Seth Jones hit a stick along its way into the Arizona goal for a 1-0 Chicago lead:
Early in the second period, Jarred Tinordi tripped over the blue line in the Arizona end, leading to a Coyotes rush the other way and a Nick Bjugstad goal that tied the game at one.
About two minutes later, the Blackhawks’ power play struck again, this time with Connor Bedard essentially bouncing a puck into the net off of Nick Foligno:
Another Blackhawks skater wiping out in the offensive zone nearly ended up in a tie game. Arvid Soderblom thought differently:
Arizona did tie the game on a Michael Carcone goal at the 11:42 mark of second. Roughly 2:30 later, a smooth Kevin Korchinski pass into a neat Jason Dickinson redirect resulted in yet another power-play goal:
Was the power play done? Hell no! Phillip Kurashev added a fourth with about 1:30 left in the second to make it a 4-2 Chicago advantage:
After a mostly scoreless final frame, Seth Jones added an empty-netter to seal the victory:
The Blackhawks won on the road. We don’t get these kinds of recaps often, so let’s hop to it:
Notes
- Let’s start by acknowledging the win for Arvid Soderblom, which was his first since … (/checks notes) Nov. 24!? Holy shit! One of the fair gripes related to him was that he never seemed to make the big saves the Blackhawks needed in key moments to remain in the game. That robbery of Keller in the second period would certainly qualify, though. Arizona did tie the game a few minutes later but Chicago would’ve been behind 3-2 at that point if not for Soderblom’s big save, and who knows how this game turns out if that was the case.
- Before we return to more pleasant thoughts, a nit to pick: it’s no coincidence that the Blackhawks first PPG from a defensemen comes this late in the season via Seth Jones. There are many things Jones does well but — and this is a point Eric’s made on the podcast before — he’s not necessarily someone who’s going to attack the net as the power play QB. His game is more east and west, and he’s not exactly Al MacInnis when he fires slappers. At some point, he’ll yield that PP1 job to Kevin Korchinski and the Chicago power play will likely benefit from it.
- Let that sweet setup for Dickinson’s goal serve as additional evidence in the case for Korchinski.
- Chicago’s power play entered this game with a league worst 12.71 percent conversation rate. After this game, it’s up to a sizzling 14.52, good for … 31st in the league!
- Still not the greatest overall game at 5-on-5, but the Blackhawks certainly clamped down on Arizona in the final 20 minutes. The Coyotes had just 8 shots on goal in the final 20, with Natural Stat Trick reporting just four scoring chances and only one high-danger chance during the 17:44 of 5-on-5 play in the third.
- Just another game with Alex Vlasic starting in the D zone more than any other blue-liner and still posting the best expected goal share on the team at 76.75 percent. Ho hum.
- We’ll save any other gripes for the other losses likely coming the rest of the way. Let’s end with a few comments from the men themselves and get outta here:
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Arvid Soderblom (CHI) — 37 saves on 39 shots
- Tyler Johnson (CHI) — 3 assists
- Seth Jones (CHI) — 2 goals
Up Next
The Blackhawks have plenty of time to save this win, with three nights off before returning to the ice in DC on Saturday to face the Washington Capitals at 6 p.m.