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Love Lies Bleeding: Blackhawks 5, Golden Knights 3

A solid win over a Cup contender at the UC.

Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Blackhawks season-long trend of being a pest when some of the league’s top teams are on the scheduled continued at the United Center on Saturday night, when Chicago beat the Golden Knights 5-3.

Vegas took the lead near the middle of the first period after a pretty awful shift from Chicago’s fourth line that featured multiple turnovers before Victor Olofsson cashed in on this one-timer:

Chicago closed the first period with a trio of goals in 3:42 of ice time, starting with this nifty move from Lukas Reichel on a mini-breakaway after he skated through a couple of VGK defenders:

Just 40 seconds after Reichel’s goal, Tyler Bertuzzi scored during a Chicago power play:

Taylor Hall capped Chicago’s first-period hat trick with this goal in the final minute of the opening 20:

Vegas tied the game on a pair of Tomas Hertl goals during the second period:

Chicago took the lead back for good with just over a minute remaining in the second when Seth Jones sniped this one into the Vegas net:

Bertuzzi added some insurance with his second power-play goal of the evening early in the third:

Notes

The second period was comically lopsided, with Vegas owning massive advantages during 5-on-5 play of 30-9 in shot attempts, 14-2 in shots on goal, 11-4 in scoring chances and 4-0 in high-danger chances, all good for an 85.1 percent expected goal share. But the Hawks owned 5-on-5 play in the first period and the third period was relatively low-event, which all made this game closer statistically than it may have felt at times. Take that fairly even game, give the home team a pair of power-play goals and just one for the visitors and … there ya have it.

Speaking of special teams, it continues to be baffling that the Blackhawks entered this game tied for fourth in the league on the penalty kill and 12th on the power play yet this team also entered the game dead last in the NHL standings. Chicago’s special teams have been genuinely good this season, which speaks to how abysmal the 5-on-5 play has been.

Every time the young Jedi scores a goal we all hope that it’s the start of something good for the 2020 first-rounder and we’re here again, aren’t we?

Also, if this is the game that cures whatever it is that’s been ailing Seth Jones since he returned from injury, that’d be great as well. Especially if teams are reportedly calling about his services.

This night off for Nolan Allan was dubbed a “reset” by his coach in the pregame and hopefully his return to the ice for the next game on Monday doesn’t come at Wyatt Kaiser’s expense. Go watch that first Hertl goal and see if you can come up with a suggestion for someone who may need a night off as well.

Still not entirely sure what to make of Tyler Bertuzzi. It was true around the time of the Winter Classic that a lot of the goals he was scoring were of extremely low importance because they came with his team down multiple goals late. This month he has two goals that were the first ones of the game and the pair he tallied in this game, one to take the lead and another for some much-needed insurance in the third. He’s now up to 16 goals on the season, with half of them on the power play, though, and that’s where the questions arise: is he going to be on the top power-play unit in future seasons as more and more talent arrives? And, if not, will he produce enough at 5-on-5 to be included in the lineup on a nightly basis? It’s not necessarily something we’ll have an answer for right now but it’s something to keep an eye on with Bertuzzi under contract for three more seasons.

There have been times in these spaces throughout the season when the idea of Pat Maroon on the Hawks wasn’t feeling like such a bad thought. There were no qualms about his lack of pace at his size and age but he still had enough hands to make some adept passes at times and his behind-the-scenes effects on Lukas Reichel shouldn’t go unmentioned. But then this game happened. A pointless fight in the second period when the Hawks were very much in control at 3-1 and then a completely boneheaded penalty in the final minutes of a game Chicago was again leading by two goals. Those are the kinds of things that should get people sent to the press box for a night or two.

Wins will likely remain few and far between for the rest of this season, so hopefully we get to see some more magic from these two that results in goals, not just quality scoring chances:

This wasn’t a goal, either, but here’s a little reminder of the shot that made No. 98 such a highly touted prospect:

Any other nits to pick would be unnecessary after what was actually a pretty fun game to take in. Haven’t been enough of those around here and it’ll probably be a while before we get another one, so best to let this one marinate a bit.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Seth Jones (CHI) — 1 goal, 2 assists
  2. Tyler Bertuzzi (CHI) — 2 goals
  3. Teuvo Teravainen (CHI) — 2 assists

What’s Next

The Blackhawks are back on home ice on Monday night when they host the Carolina Hurricanes for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

Talking Points