The Blackhawks turned in one of their better performances of the season but still couldn’t turn that into two points, losing 3-2 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at the United Center.
The Blackhawks controlled the play for much of the first period but that didn’t lead to the first goal of the game. Instead, it came from Nikolaj Ehlers, who expertly picked a corner from a poor angle:
Early in the second period, with a delayed penalty call coming against the Hawks, Ehlers picked up his second of the game on what was largely a solo effort:
As the second period continued, the game seemed to be sliding away from the Hawks. With about four minutes remaining, though, a neat pass from Seth Jones sprung Colin Blackwell for a breakaway, and he made no mistake:
Things started getting chippy in the third period as the Blackhawks pushed for a tying goal, including this hit from Connor Bedard on Brenden Dillon that heightened on-ice tensions for a moment:
The ice remained tilted in the Blackhawks’ favor for the third period — save for a brief two minutes during a dreadful power play — and all of that work finally paid off when Tyler Johnson scored to tie the game up at two:
Then, in rather anticlimactic fashion, Kyle Connor scored the game-winner with this shot off of Nick Foligno’s skate and into the net:
Notes
- First off: that’s about as entertaining a game as the Hawks have played all season, especially that third period as they really controlled the play in search of the game-tying goal. Periods like that are few and far between this season, so best to savor that one for a while.
- Chicago had a 55.67 shot attempt share, 61.11 high-danger chance share and 56.48 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5 in this game, all statistical categories where the Jets have been above average this season. So, yeah: that’s what it looks like when the Blackhawks actually have more possession of the puck for a change.
- Seth Jones was an absolute monster in this game. He had the great pass to set up Blackwell’s breakaway and then made the excellent play to keep the puck in the zone just before Johnson’s tying goal, among countless other strong plays. Here’s hoping that version of Jones is still around when the Blackhawks are more than just a basement-dwelling NHL team.
- In a similar vein, this version of Colin Blackwell would be a suitable fourth-liner on a team with playoff aspirations.
- If that initial Ehlers’ goal is what it takes to get a puck past Mrazek, that’s fine.
- So, Connor Bedard was not on the ice for the opening shift of overtime. Now, because Bedard has struggled on faceoffs — and so has the entire team — it’s fair to leave Bedard on the bench for the initial draw and wait for Chicago to get possession before throwing him out there. But the Hawks did win the opening draw and left the trio of Foligno/Dickinson/Jones out on the ice. Seems like future OT sessions should feature Bedard on the ice for that opening draw or have him on the ice as soon as possession is sustained. That way, it’s the Blackhawks dictating the terms instead of letting the opponent do so.
- Richardson was asked about it postgame and here was his response:
“Just thought we’d have those guys kind of check. We hoped to hold that puck longer so then they get just tired and don’t have an opportunity and change. And then we’re hoping if we can get the puck and sustain it, and then they are tired and stuck out there, we had Kurashev and Connor queued up ready to go. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that far.” - Hey, look at that: something on the ice to talk about for a change!
- It was pointed out by several posters in the game thread and on Twitter as well but an overall rough game for Kevin Korchinski with several brutal giveaways in bad portions of the ice. It certainly wouldn’t have been a shock for Luke Richardson to staple him to the bench for a bit, but it’s also not a bad idea to let the kid play through rough nights like these during a season that means nothing. The game score card below was particularly unkind to Korchinski. Richardson offered some thoughts on Korchinski postgame as well:
- On the other side, Alex Vlasic was excellent again after some tougher nights. His skating ability continues to be noticeably improved from last season, as there were again several moments where he was up in the play because of his legs, if not leading the play himself.
- Fun night, even if the result was ultimately disappointing. Hopefully these start coming at a higher rate in the not-too-distant future, eh?
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Nikolaj Ehlers (WPG) — 2 goals
- Kyle Connor (WPG) — GWG
- Seth Jones (CHI) — 1 assist
What’s Next
As you may have heard a few times, the Blackhawks are playing the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday at 5 p.m. with the jersey retirement ceremony for Chris Chelios coming before the game starts.