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Hey Hey, My My: Jets 5, Blackhawks 4 (SO)

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks pushed the top team in the league to the shootout, but ultimate fell 5-4 to the Winnipeg Jets Saturday night in their last home game of the season.

The Blackhawks got on the board first thanks to a shorthanded goal by Nick Foligno midway through the first period. Connor Hellebuyck came way out of his net to play the puck but then turned it over to Foligno in the defensive zone, and Foligno snaps a shot in the open net, making it 1-0.

Connor Bedard doubled the Blackhawks lead while on the power play with 6:39 remaining in the period. His one timer from the left circle is perfectly teed up by a pass from Sam Rinzel beat Hellebuyck five-hold, putting the Blackhawks up 2-0.

The Jets got within one at 11:15 of the second period also while on the power play. After some chances and cycling by the Jets, Nino Niederreiter moved in to the high slot and put a wrist shot past a screened Spencer Knight.

Kyle Connor then tied the game 2-2 with 3:37 left in the second. The Blackhawks breakout gets turnaround easily in the neutral zone, then Alex Lafallo sent a cross-ice pass to Connor, who then drilled it from the circle.

The Jets went ahead 3-2 just over two minutes into the third. Vladislav Namestnikov got the puck back to Josh Morrissey whose long point shot went through traffic to beat Knight to give the Jets their first lead of the game.

The Blackhawks retied the game 3-3 midway through third with a slap shot from the left circle. Connor Bedard banked a cross-ice pass off the side boards, and Donato stepped into the rebound, the puck hitting the far post and going in.

Frank Nazar gave the Blackhawks back the lead with 5:55 left in third. Artyom Levshunov kept the puck in before getting it down low to Tyler Bertuzzi who setup Nazar for a one-timer from the slot. making it 4-3.

Morrissey responded with his second goal of the game to tie it 4-4 at with 3:47 left in the third period. Morrissey cut down from the point to receive a pass from Dylan DeMelo, then snapped it from the circle past Knight.

After finishing the third period and overtime with no goals, only Bedard is able to score for the Blackhawks in the shootout compared Connor and Cole Perfetti for the Jets, making the final score 5-4 Jets.

Here is Bedard’s shootout goal:

Notes

The first was an interesting period: the Jets were easily the better team at 5-on-5, but the Blackhawks capitalized on special teams and came out of the period up 2-0. Blackhawks were out attempted 14-6, outshot 6-1, and owned just 44.22 percent of the expected goals. They generated zero high danger chances at 5-on-5, that’s how disjoined it felt. Big reasons the Blackhawks were up after the first 20 were the goaltenders: Knight was exceptional while Hellenbuyck decided go 40-50 feet out of his cage to knock the puck into the opposing player directly in front of him. That’s hockey.

Despite not scoring, the Blackhawks were much better at generating chances in the second: they were still out attempted (25-14) and out shot (12-9), but they managed eight scoring chances, five of which were high danger, at 5-on-5. Defensively, the Blackhawks weren’t able to contain the Jets much, and Knight had to bail them out in those instances, but that was always going to happen when going against a monster team like the Jets.

The third period was obviously the most entertaining, it’s back-and-forth play making it also the most even of the game. Every shot category still favored the Jets, but by three or less, and the Blackhawks had their highest expected goals share of the game (48.24 percent). Yes, it would have been nice to see them hold on to any one of the leads they had, but when taking into consideration the quality of the opposition, this was a good period (and game) for the Blackhawks.

Overtime was basically all Jets, all the time, though the Blackhawks got a few chances. This was arguably Knight’s best five-minute stretch of play as a member of the Blackhawks to date. I’d have still preferred Nazar in the top-three for the shooutout, but the shooters the Blackhawks sent out were fine too.

It really helps that with the influx of youth in the lineup, the speed of the Blackhawks has been very noticeable down the stretch and that’s definitely helped them feel more competitive, even if it’s not resulting in a ton of wins yet.

After a wonderful game from Arvid Soderblom against Boston, tonight it was Knight’s turn to put on a show. His save percentage won’t reflect it (.903) but he was a major reason the Blackhawks kept this game close, especially considering he had to face over 40 shots. Here are just some of the many great saves Knight had this game:

Nazar was the other young player to standout this game: not only can the kid just flat out fly, he’s always making something out of nothing happen. Tonight was also the first time his line with Teuvo Terevainen and Tyler Bertuzzi came out on top statistically: Blackhawks had 69.23 percent of shot attempts, 85.71 percent of shots on goal, and 87.80 percent of the expected goals — easily leading the team — and did so against the Jets’ second line most of the night. Again, Nazar was the driving force behind this line, lead the team in scoring chances (4) and high danger chances (4) and was tied for lead in shot attempts (5) at 5-on-5. Add in his special teams shot counts, and his total was seven shot attempts, six scoring chances, and five high danger chances. Nazar still needs to work on his finishing touch overall, but with two points tonight, Nazar has six points (3 G, 3 A) in his last six games.

Bedard was also really buzzing for the Blackhawks forwards, but more of that came from his playmaking once again. He did score a goal and have three shot attempts, three shots on goal and a scoring chances this game, but as with most of the season, Bedard really stood out with how he was setting up his teammates for chances. He set franchise history with most assists (81). Bedard’s game score was pulled down by team stats, but individually he had the second highest offensive impact of Blackhawks players — behind Nazar.

On Friday, Mark Lazerus made the observation about how good Bedard’s primary assist ratio, and this continues tonight as his one assist was primary, bringing the total to 21 or 24 so far. 21 primary assists is the same amount as Connor McDavid has at 5-on-5 too, with both tied for fifth in the league currently. Just think about what Bedard’s point totals could be if he maintained that level of playmaking, but also had someone dishing to him more regularly.

Speaking of offensive impact, Rinzel picked up another point tonight with an assist on Bedard’s power play goal. He finished with three shot attempts but only one on goal and one scoring chance, but he was absolutely the best defensemen in transition and with his passing tonight, playing over 25 minutes tonight. Rinzel and Alex Vlasic are honestly a really good pairing on paper: Vlasic is a classic stay-at-home defender — and he was quite good defensively tonight — which could allow Rinzel to jump into plays more. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they were the starting top-pairing for the Blackhawks next season.

The other two young defensemen, Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser, had somewhat more quiet games compared to Rinzel but they both had some really nice moments. This was perhaps Levshunov’s cleanest game defensively, a little less roaming, and he had a positive impression on offense. Kaiser just plays with a poise you have to admire and he had some especially strong stick breakups throughout the game. Levshunov still doesn’t read as NHL ready to me, but he’s made a really solid jump from the start of the season that you could see him being ready sooner rather than later.

Oliver Moore was with Bedard most of the night, and as mentioned above, the line was just alright statistically, but Moore doesn’t look out of place in terms of speed in the NHL. He and Bedard especially had some early give-and-go moments that could turn into something more if given more time. Considering Moore stagnated offensively while in college, the early returns when it comes to scoring chances generation has been nice to see. Moore acknowledged post-game that while foot speed is good to have, it’s really about how quickly NHL think the game:

“I watched games growing up, and just being down by the ice, you see how fast guys are. And you’re watching on TV knowing how fast they are. College did a great job of prepping me for it. I think the difference is how fast guys think the game. A lot of people say that, but it’s true.”

We already knew Pat Maroon was retiring after this season, but Alec Martinez officially announced he will as well. Both said tonight was their last NHL games, signaling they won’t be playing the final two games of the season.

They both got tribute videos and standing ovations from the crowd:

And the Jets lined-up for a handshake as well:

In Blackhawks prospect news, Ryan Greene’s season is over with Boston University’s loss in the NCAA final and there is expectation that he’ll sign with the Blackhawks. Whether he’ll join the Blackhawks for their final two games or join the IceHogs instead, like Aiden Thompson did, is unknown but it feels like the former is more likely. Additionally, Sacha Boisvert is expected to transfer from North Dakota to Boston University.

PS. Please excuse any mistakes in the recap above: your typo queen was running solo tonight (though Dave may come through and tidy things up later).

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Josh Morrissey (WPG) — 2 goals
  2. Frank Nazar (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Kyle Connor (WPG) — 1 goal, 1 assist

What’s Next

The Blackhawks play their second to last game of the season Monday in Montreal against the Canadiens at 6 p.m.

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