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How It’s Done: Blackhawks 3, Lightning 2

Donato scored twice as the Blackhawks defeat the Lightning 3-2 Thursday night.

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks scored in the final minute to steal a 3-2 win over the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

The Blackhawks opened the scoring just over midway through the first period with a power play goal. Tyler Bertuzzi sent a quick feed from below the goal line to Frank Nazar in the slot who ripped a quick one-timer, giving the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.

The Lightning evened things up about seven minutes into the second period when Jake Guentzel set up in the low slot and redirected a Ryan McDonagh shot past Spencer Knight to make it 1-1.

Ryan Donato restored the Blackhawks’ lead to 2-1 after jumping on a loose puck created by Lukas Reichel deflecting a Lightning pass attempt and racing into the zone before snapping a shot into the back of the net.

Ryan McDonagh knotted the game at 2-2 with 42 seconds left in the second, firing a snap shot from the right circle off a cross-ice feed from Nikita Kucherov.

It was looking like the game was headed to overtime, but Donato’s second goal gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 win, tapping a rebound into an open net after Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled out of position on an initial shot from Nazar. Credit to Teuvo Teravainen who sparked the rush by stealing the puck from Kucherov in the defensive zone.

Notes

This was one of those games where the Blackhawks had to do a lot with very little. At 5-on-5, the Lightning absolutely dominated puck possession — the Blackhawks owned just 34.38 percent of the shot attempts — and had the lion’s share of scoring chances (37.21 percent) and expected goals (35.13 percent). However, the Blackhawks did hold a slight edge in high-danger chances (9-8). Chicago was on the losing side of shot attempts, shots, and expected goals in every period but managed to keep the high-danger chances even over the final 40 minutes. Ultimately, the same number of Tampa Bay’s high-danger chances ended up on net (6 of 8) as Chicago’s (6 of 9), but the Blackhawks capitalized on theirs while the Lightning didn’t. It also helped that the power play scored on its first shot, and with the team’s hard work — plus Knight being stellar in net — that was the difference.

o bring this back to the word of the week: sustainable — as in, is winning this way sustainable? Frankly, no. And we all know it. Let’s be completely honest. Is it still fun to watch, and are we excited about the individual improvement from key players? Absolutely. Are they better than last year? So far, yes. Can we see the easy path for how the Blackhawks could improve at a team level and make victories more repeatable? Also a full-on yes. This team is brimming with potential, it’s ridiculously exhilarating, especially after the last several years.

But while this team is clearly more competitive, the Blackhawks need to start stringing together games where they control play — or at least come close to breaking even. I do wonder if not being able to roll four consistent lines because of the 11F/7D setup is part of the issue. The Lightning have been really bad to start this season — near the bottom of the league statistically — yet they still managed to roll over Chicago in terms of possession. If Knight stops playing like a Vezina winner even a little, things could get ugly fast without some team-level adjustments.

I know, I know — I’m just the party pooper.

All that said, a win is a win is a win. Credit where it’s due: the Blackhawks made the most of the chances they had with a level of tenacity that you have to love to see. They made plenty of mistakes but didn’t let those weigh them down, and they kept the effort level high until the final horn. The fact is that this group is locked in and willing to go all out until the end is encouraging — and it’s exactly the kind of foundation a lasting winning culture can be built on. And we can enjoy the fun while we wait for the rest of the picture to fully form.

On to the individual improvements and standout plays! (And I’ll skip the usual line-by-line stats breakdown since most of them were underwater — except for one: Nick Foligno’s line with Landon Slaggert and Colton Dach, who were the lone bright spot in that regard.)

Obviously, Knight was once again the star. The second period, in particular, was a goaltending clinic from the young netminder — he faced 11 shots, nine of them scoring chances and five deemed high danger. It was the only period without a penalty and had barely any stoppages, so Knight basically had to power through a full-on cardio session while everyone else was gasping for air. Yet he stayed cool, calm, and completely unbothered. There weren’t even that many highlight-reel saves because of how composed and technically sound he was — just clean, efficient goaltending at its best. After tonight, Knight leads the league in goals saved above average with 9.8 according to MoneyPuck.

The first and third periods didn’t feature as many high-danger chances, but there were still a few chaotic sequences late where Knight had to lock things down — and, as he’s done all season, he slammed the door without so much as a flinch.

Donato has now scored in four straight games, and while that streak will eventually cool off, he’s doing all the right things to keep himself in prime scoring positions. Part of that success comes from teammates turning defensive plays into offense: Reichel breaking up a pass that set Donato up for his first goal, and Teravainen’s stick check that led to the game-winner. At 5-on-5, Donato tied for the team lead in shot attempts (4) and led in shots on goal (3), then added another tally in each category on the power play.

When you factor in the power play, it’s not surprising that Nazar and Bedard led the team with six scoring chances each. The top unit is really a joy to watch most nights, even when they don’t score, thanks to the dual-threat nature of those two young players. Bedard did struggle to get his shot through at 5-on-5 — only one of his four attempts hit the target — but honestly, I’m not sold on his line. Reichel has played well enough to deserve a top-six role, but he and Bedard haven’t really clicked yet, and Bertuzzi was noticeably better alongside Nazar. Breaking up the Mikheyev–Teravainen–Nazar trio would be tough, but it might have to happen.

Oh, and Bedard’s effort down the stretch was a blast to watch. Like I said earlier, these players are fully bought in, even if the team-level metrics aren’t always in their favor. Now just imagine that effort plus strong metrics backing it up… the endless glory! Okay, I’ll stop now, I promise.

And speaking of Mikheyev, he really can jet:

Reichel, Dach, Greene, and Slaggert all had moments in this game that hint at how they could contribute to team success. Reichel impressed with his transition plays and, as mentioned, that key defensive play that set up Donato’s goal. Dach found himself in good scoring positions — five attempts, three of which were scoring chances — though he struggled to get them on net, with only one shot on goal, much like Bedard.

Greene is really coming into his own defensively; he was strong in the faceoff circle in a small sample (winning four of five for 80 percent) and flashed some offensive upside as well. I really liked that coach Jeff Blashill gave him a decent amount of time during 4-on-4 — play the kids, always.

And this was only Slaggert’s second game of the season, but he looked like he’s settling in nicely — if there’s one player who embodies hard work, it’s him. He also led the team in hits with five.

On the blue line, Alex Vlasic had another mostly quiet but steady game, logging a team-high 22:19. There were a few mistakes, but all fairly minor. Connor Murphy had a similar outing, though he had a few more standout defensive moments — four blocks and some strong checks that disrupted the Lightning’s cycle. Rinzel had a scary moment after a hard hit that sent him to the locker room, but he still logged the third-most minutes (17:34) and looked mostly fine. He’s still working out his timing, but when he’s on, he’s a delight to watch. Louis Crevier was fine as well, though his 13:22 of ice time isn’t exactly helping him or the team. I’ll skip diving into Artyom Levshunov — at this stage, I just don’t see the case for him being in Chicago.

As for Wyatt Kaiser, his Game Score might make it look like this was his worst game ever, and while it certainly wasn’t his best, it’s mostly the team-level struggles dragging him down. Still, he stood out among the defensemen thanks to being the most confident and fluid skater on the ice.

In some Blackhawks prospect news, Roman Kantserov continues to rack up points in the KHL with another goal and assist in his latest game. He’s up to 20 points (12 G, 8 A) in 19 games, so on pace for 72 on the season. Not bad.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Spencer Knight (CHI) — .935 save percentage on 31 shots
  2. Ryan Donato (CHI) — 2 goals
  3. Frank Nazar (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist

What’s Next

The Blackhawks have another two days off before hosting the Los Angeles Kings Sunday at 6 p.m.

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