The Chicago Blackhawks headed into Thursday night’s contest against the Canadiens with a lot on their agenda. The Celebration of Andrew Shaw Legacy Night and the debut of Lukas Reichel were both anticipated and exciting for fans, but their main objective was to come away with their third consecutive victory.
After a bit of late game heroics, a touch of controversy and time spent on official reviews, the Blackhawks were ultimately skated away with a 3-2 overtime win.
Right off the bat, the Hawks dominated early in both possession and shots on goal. Chicago jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Dominik Kubalik scored after a beautiful pass through the neutral zone from Jonathan Toews.
Dominik Kubalik scores his seventh goal of the season and snaps a six-game point drought. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/gjfE2aGjui
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 14, 2022
After being outshot 13-2 in the first period, Montreal regrouped and began to pile on shots, eventually evening the stat sheet. Jeff Petry’s wrist shot from the right wing circle tied the game at one.
Bin oui, Jeff! 🙌#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Arpq5xj1QZ
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 14, 2022
The Canadiens headed into the second intermission up 2-1 after a power play goal from Mike Hoffman gave the Habs the lead:
Comme il l’a fait si souvent.
Like he does so often.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/afHJwD0CMc
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 14, 2022
Patrick Kane snapped a long 13-game goal drought with a power play goal early in the third period, tying the game at two:
A Patrick Kane goal for your timeline 😌 pic.twitter.com/cSBWaHrrYF
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 14, 2022
Regulation ended with the game still tied. After much controversy and plenty of time reviewing both the goal and whether it was onside or not, Philip Kurashev was ruled to have found the back of the net, leading to an overtime victory for the Blackhawks.
This is the game-winning goal after two reviews and hockey is stupid. pic.twitter.com/2EwX9JbtJG
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) January 14, 2022
Notes
- While Lukas Reichel did not make much noise on the score sheet, he looked good. He can clearly skate with the big boys and has good hockey IQ and instincts. Hopefully we’ll get to see him shoot the puck more in the coming games.
- Toews has been quite good recently. He has 8 points in his last 12 games.
- The Blackhawks started this game out in a dominant fashion. But they almost completely pissed it away … to the last place team in the NHL. It’s nice to see them come back and get the two points but the second period showed just about everything that’s wrong with this team. I’m not sure they climb out of this one had they faced better competition.
- The Hawks sloppy passing has been an issue as of late — particularly when trying to exit the zone. Forwards are getting way too deep and the blue line has been chucking up turnovers non-stop. The passing, zone exits and entries and overall neutral zone play all need to improve if this team wants to sustain success.
- Marc-Andre Fleury was once again fantastic against his home-province team. While he didn’t need to go too far out of his way, he made saves when needed and fished with 27 saves on 29 shots for a .931 save percentage.
- The momentum completely shifted in favor of the Hawks, once the United Center PA played Fuel, early in the third period… just sayin’.
- Play Kurashev more. /
Game Charts
Three stars
- Philip Kurashev — Game-winning goal, 3 shots, only 12:46 time on ice
- Marc-Andre Fleury — 27 saves on 29 shots, .931 save percentage, nice guy
- Patrick Kane — 1 goal, 4 shots
What’s next
The Blackhawks host the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center on Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.