In a rather surprising turn of events, the Blackhawks rallied from deficits of both 2-0 and 3-2 in the final period to skate away with a 4-3 shootout victory on Saturday afternoon on the road against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings owned the first 40 minutes of the game, though, which included this power-play goal from Alex Laferriere about four minutes into the first:
Late in the second, Laferriere scored his second of the game — a goal that felt, at the time, like the final dagger, given how lifeless Chicago was in the first two periods.
Early in the third, though, Nick Foligno got the Hawks on the board when he worked his way in between the dots and fired a shot on goal that Darcy Kuemper badly mishandled and ultimately knocked into his own net:
A few minutes later, Lukas Reichel deftly danced up the boards through some defenders and found Craig Smith open in the middle for a game-tying goal:
It seemed like the Kings were back in front for good when Phillip Danault — yeah, him — hopped on those loose puck that bounced off the end boards and to the side of the goal:
But the Blackhawks finally cashed in during a 6-on-5 sequence, with Tyler Bertuzzi touching the puck into the LA net following an excellent pass from Ryan Donato:
Regulation ended with a 3-3 tie to send the game into overtime, where Connor Bedard nearly ended things with this incredible move:
But the 3-on-3 overtime finished scoreless, leading to a shootout. After an LA goal to start things, Connor Bedard quickly evened the shootout standings:
Petr Mrazek made the one save he’d need to get Chicago the shootout win, then Teuvo did Teuvo things to keep the Blackhawks in front:
And Donato finished off the perfect 3-for-3 shootout for the Blackhawks with this filthy maneuver to earn the second point in the standings:
A Blackhawks come-from-behind win! No, really! Let’s get to it:
Notes
The Kings make life difficult in the neutral zone and the Blackhawks don’t have a ton of players with the combination of hands and feet to navigate those areas by themselves, which is a big part of why the first 40 minutes were so difficult to watch. Foligno was able to get through by going right down the middle of the latter twos in the Kings’ 1-2-2 formation, which created his scoring chance and goal — aided by some subpar goaltending. Reichel is one of those players with the requisite hands and feet (or at least he’s supposed to be) and he was a one-man zone entry on Smith’s goal. Down the road, when more of Chicago’s speedy prospects arrive, this is the kind of team that the Blackhawks might be able to carve up in wildly entertaining fashion. Not the case at the moment, though.
In a similar vein: wonder if future opponents might up the pressure when the Hawks are on the power play, because the Kings’ PK applied some in this game and rendered Chicago’s power plays largely irrelevant.
Apparently Chicago’s coaching staff had a hand in those more successful navigations of the neutral zone, too:
Speaking of Reichel: if skating half on the fourth line is what it takes to restore his confidence, so be it. We’ve seen more glimpses of the Reichel we were hoping to see in the last few weeks when he’s been skating with Smith and Maroon. It doesn’t make much sense, but hockey sometimes hockeys like that. Might as well let it run for a while.
There was a sequence in the second period, around the 6:20 mark, when Bedard spun off a check who fell down near the goal line extended and Bedard walked in towards the net just below the dots but tried a deke instead of firing a quick shot, ultimately losing possession of the puck without a shot on goal. Feels like one of those moments where Bedard will shoot the puck early when he’s feeling it but will opt for a deke when he’s not. Perhaps that nifty OT move and the shootout goal will help his confidence, because Bedard still seems like he’s fighting it a bit this season.
Feels like we continue to not notice Nolan Allan when he plays in games and that continues to be a good thing for a player like him.
Never going to complain about a win, even if it wasn’t in the prettiest of circumstances. It’d certainly be nice if the Blackhawks would hit the gas pedal during games before the third period like they’ve done in the last two outings, but finally getting that goal in 6-on-5 play when they’ve pounding on that door in the last few games has to offer some relief. This kind of performance is fun for a night but it’s not a recipe for consistent success. Hopefully there are some more complete efforts on the way soon.
Game Charts
Natural Stat Trick’s site was down, so we’ll add the extra charts here later if that changes.
Three Stars
- Alex Laferriere (LAK) — 2 goals
- Petr Mrazek (CHI) — 37 saves on 40 shots
- Ryan Donato (CHI) — shootout goal, primary assist on game-tying goal
What’s Next
The Blackhawks won’t get much rest, venturing to the OC to face the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night at 7 p.m.