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Looking ahead no turning back: Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 5

Posted on by Shepard Price

It took the Blackhawks until the shootout to beat the Blue Jackets but they never trailed in a 6-5 win on Tuesday in Columbus.

After giving up the first two shots against, the Blackhawks would get the next seven to start the game. That resulted in a goal by Carl Soderberg on the power play:

Patrick Kane would follow that less than two minutes later as he and Pius Suter got a 2-on-0 odd-man rush triggered by Mattias Janmark:

Cam Atkinson would score 91 seconds later to make it a 2-1 game.

Patrik Laine added another just 48 seconds into the second period with the Blue Jackets on the power play.

Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Blue Jackets got a penalty shot early in the second period with a chance to put the Blue Jackets in the lead. Kevin Lankinen foiled that attempt. The Blackhawks saw their own attempt to regain the lead foiled as a David Kampf goal was called back for goaltender interference.

After killing the second penalty of the night, the Blackhawks got the lead back. Brandon Hagel put in a virtual empty-netter for the first of his career:

Laine scored his second power-play goal of the night to tie the game just 72 seconds later.

Dominik Kubalik got the Blackhawks’ third lead of the night with less than five minutes remaining in the second:

Adam Boqvist scored on a two-man advantage to make it a 5-3 game early in the third period. That’s his first goal of the season:

Bjorkstrand brought the Blue Jackets back within one goal on Columbus’s next power play. He would score another late in the third period to tie the game with four minutes remaining.

The Blackhawks would win the shootout as Alex DeBrincat was the only player to score.

Notes

  • The first period was one of the best periods of hockey the Blackhawks have played this season. A 17-5 shot advantage (15-5 at 5-on-5) and 1.12 expected goals for to just .34 against showcase how dominant the Blackhawks were in that first period. It’s also worth noting all four lines had a expected goal percentage above 60.
  • The other two periods in regulation and overtime were not as great for Chicago. The Blackhawks had just 10 shots at 5-on-5 in the final 45 minutes compared to 12 for the Blue Jackets, who outshot the Blackhawks 25-17 across all strengths in the second, third and overtime. The Blackhawks did control quality throughout the game, though, with 0.60 expected goals in the second and third to 0.50 against.
  • The worst any Blackhawks line did at 5-on-5 in this game was a 59.37 expected goal percentage. Clearly, expected goals were not the end all be all in this game but the Blackhawks did look great enough in the first period and good enough throughout the rest of the game at 5-on-5 to put the pressure on Columbus.
  • Three Blackhawks finished with multi-point games as Kane had four, Soderberg three and Kubalik two. This game tied Kane for the most multi-assist games in the NHL (with Connor McDavid) at seven. Kane now has 30 points in 20 games this season. Kane also came pretty close to a Gordie Howe hat trick near the end of regulation when he and David Savard of Columbus scrapped a few times.
  • The Blackhawks played some undisciplined hockey throughout this game, taking five penalties and giving up a penalty shot as well. It was not a great night for the penalty kill as they gave up three power-play goals. The Blue Jackets had gotten just five power plays in their last four games as well.
  • Neither goaltender was all that great in this one. Lankinen made 25 saves on 30 shots against while Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves on 33 shots. Both were below .850 on the night, and Lankinen saw just 1.98 expected goals against. He made nine saves on 10 high-danger shots, so most of the goals came from further away. /

Game charts

Three stars

  1. Patrick Kane (CHI) — 1 goal, 3 assists
  2. Patrik Laine (CBJ) — 2 goals, 1 assist
  3. Oliver Bjorkstrand (CBJ) — 2 goals

What’s next

The Blackhawks see the Blue Jackets again at 6 p.m. Thursday in Columbus.

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