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Blackhawks rally for first win over Golden Knights with wild 5-3 victory

Posted on by Brandon Cain

The Blackhawks rallied from a two-goal deficit with five straight goals for a 5-3 road win over the Golden Knights on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome each had a goal and two assists for Chicago, who became the last active NHL team to defeat Vegas after losing its last seven outings to the Golden Knights.

Rookie Kirby Dach had a goal and an assist, and defensemen Calvin de Haan and Erik Gustafsson scored in a 45-second span in the second period. Corey Crawford stopped 39 of 41 shots as Chicago won two straight games for the first time since mid-October.

William Carrier and William Karlsson both scored first-period goals and Nate Schmidt added one late for Vegas, which dropped its fourth straight game. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves.

Wednesday’s game started off fast with Zack Smith being awarded a penalty shot only 44 seconds in. Smith, however, rang the shot off the crossbar.

Nic Hague helped put the Golden Knights up 1-0 just 2:58 into the game when he dangled around Andrew Shaw then fired a shot to the net that Carrier deflected past Crawford.

Shaw halted any momentum Chicago may have been building with a hooking penalty in the defensive zone that Vegas capitalized on. Karlsson sneaked by Saad and de Haan then slid a backhander between Crawford’s pads for a power play goal at 6:29 to extend the Golden Knights’ lead.

Vegas’ 2-0 advantage only lasted 16 seconds as Dylan Strome sent a pass to the top of the right faceoff circle to a wide-open Kane to blast by Fleury as Alex DeBrincat tangled up Schmidt and Brayden McNabb in front.

Alex Tuch, who was back in action after missing three games with an upper-body injury, was awarded a goal at 3:54 in the second period. An official review, however, determined the puck hit the crossbar and far post, but never crossed the goal line.

Chicago scored two goals in a 45-second span by de Haan and Gustafsson to take the lead. It was de Haan’s first tally as a Blackhawk and Gustafsson’s first of the season. The Blackhawks only had three goals by defensemen in their first 17 games prior to Wednesday.

Vegas was then gifted a penalty shot for Crawford “throwing his stick” although it looked like it was pushed out of his hand while Karlsson raced around the net. It was all for not as Jonathan Marchessault’s penalty shot went wide of the net.

Crawford and Fleury continued their goaltending showcase throughout the second period to keep the game at 3-2.

Smith picked up his second assist of the night when he got around Ryan Reaves with a pass to himself off the boards and then sent a feed to Ryan Carpenter streaking to the high slot. The puck deflected off Carpenter and Dach toward the net, and the rookie buried the rebound for his third career NHL goal at 3:57 of the third.

Strome put the game out of reach on a 3-on-1 rush with a wrister with 3:21 remaining to give him eight points in his last four games.

Schmidt added one more tally for Vegas with a minute to go, but it was too late for the Golden Knights to stop the Blackhawks from hitting the jackpot.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Dylan Strome (CHI) — 1 goal, 2 assists (both primary)
  2. Corey Crawford (CHI) — 39 saves on 42 shots
  3. Patrick Kane (CHI) — 1 goal, 2 assists (both secondary)

What’s next?

The Blackhawks visit the Predators on Saturday in Nashville.

Talking Points