After another blowout loss on Sunday, the Chicago Blackhawks got some redemption on Wednesday night, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 at the United Center.
The Avalanche went up 1-0 just over six minutes into the first period. Juuso Parssinen picked off the puck in the defensive zone, sprinted the other way, and sent a backhand short side to beat Petr Mrazek.
The Blackhawks tied the game 1-1 with about five minutes left in the first after Ilya Mikheyev jumped on a puck and drove to the net to flip the puck over Trent Miner. Credit Connor Bedard for breaking up the Avalanche exit pass that created the loose puck for Mikheyev to retrieve.
Frank Nazar potted his first goal of the season to put the Blackhawks up 2-1 midway through the second period. Teuvo Teravainen created space (which you can’t see in the clip below, sorry), got the puck to Dach who one-timed it, and then Nazar pounced on the rebound for the goal.
Bedard gave the Blackhawks a two-goal lead with 9:06 left in the third period. A great pass from Tyler Bertuzzi on the rush set the play up and Bedard absolutely sniped the puck, making it 3-1 Blackhawks.
Notes
The first period wasn’t totally lopsided, but the Blackhawks did not have the same amount of consistent pressure the Avalanche did. In particular, there were two extended periods in the frame where Chicago was just surviving, like right before Colorado’s first goal. The Blackhawks were ultimately out-attempted just 20-18 but owned only 28.87 percent of the expected goals at 5-on-5, so Mrazek needed to be big at times. It was less about the Blackhawks playing poorly and more about the Avalanche just being a dominant team, and the Blackhawks did have their own chances and built momentum in the final minutes leading up to Mikheyev’s goal and to end the period.
The Blackhawks carried that momentum into the second, and it was a solid effort from the whole team. The period ended up being very even statistically — Chicago had an edge in shot attempts (51.85 percent) and scoring chances (56.25) but slightly under in expected goals (48.36) — but the Blackhawks chances were slightly more concentrated rather than the one-and-done action from the Avalanche that period.
With the Blackhawks up 2-1 heading into the third, it was obvious the Avs would turn it on looking for an equalizer, so the shot stats heavily favor them to start the final frame (17-11 shot attempts, 9-5 shots on goal). However, Chicago not only kept Colorado’s quality low — to just three high-danger chances — the home team was energized after an excellent penalty kill and used that to power through for their third goal. Again, it was exciting to see the Blackhawks not turtle when up by a single goal, instead focusing on both suppressing quality against while also still trying to get an insurance goal.
Ultimately, the Avalanche were the better team, but the Blackhawks played them closer than you’d expect on paper. The Blackhawks are such an odd team, putting up good performances against surging teams like the Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens but then being blown out by poor to mediocre teams in the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers. The Blackhawks are now 2-0 against the Avalanche, too.
This was obviously Mrazek’s best game since returning from injury by a clear mile. It looked a little shaky to start the game, with some poor rebounds and desperation saves, but he settled down and got better as the game went on. There were several big saves, including this one in the final moments of the second to keep the Blackhawks up by one heading into the third:
Nazar has been one of the players doing basically everything right offensively, but not being rewarded with points — until he finally got his first goal of the season in this game. Dach has brought a nice dynamic with Nazar since joining the team, and the two have looked really good together — especially Nazar. Let’s hope this is the starting point for him to really break out.
It was also Dach’s first point in the NHL! Love rookie points.
Obviously Teravainen has been good as the third on Nazar and Dach’s line but I do have to say that I would still love to see a kids line with Reichel up there alongside Nazar and Dach. They’re already getting lighter assignments in terms of quality of competition, so why not let another kid try out there? Just for fun.
This was one of Bedard’s better games at 5-on-5 in a while: he had five shot attempts with two on goal and four scoring chances with two being high-danger. That gave him the second highest expected goals (0.29) on the team, behind only Nazar. Bedard also extended his point streak to eight games (4 G, 7 A).
I’m still not sold on Mikheyev on the top line despite capitalizing on a good play by Bedard tonight and I’d still like to see Teravainen reunited with Bedard, but the top line was very good tonight (61.90 percent share of shot attempts, 49.41 percent share of expected goals). Sorensen did a good job of trying to get Bedard’s line away from MacKinnon’s — it wasn’t always possible, but the Blackhawks top line only had a few less shifts against the Avs’ second and third lines, and those are the ones they scored against.
The overturned Bedard goal is a little weird: it’s really hard for me to tell if this is a distinct enough kicking motion or just the natural inertia of his skate. I feel like if it’s so close, maybe go with the call on the ice.
Bedard thought it was a 50-50 situation too, but he was at least happy he was able to score for real later.
And he continues to make Blackhawks history:
One final note, the ice time for the defenders was a bit better tonight. Seth Jones only played 23:03, a much more reasonable time for him to be playing. No one was ever calling for him to be benched or for his minutes to be cut by an unrealistic amount. But they could be knocked down a few minutes so he’s not playing 25 or more minutes a night. He also still doesn’t need to be playing as much on the penalty kill but … baby steps.
The rest of the top four were Alex Vlasic (21:58), Louis Crevier (19:36), and Wyatt Kaiser (18:45), all reasonable as well. Really liked Kaiser’s game tonight too. The only gripe is that Nolan Allan played just 13:28 — I know it’s tied to his partner Brodie at 5-on-5, but he wasn’t used on the PK at all this game basically (just eight seconds), so he could have been used a bit more. There is nothing in Allan’s game lately that warrants him playing less, really.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Petr Mrazek (CHI) — 36 saves. .972 save percentage
- Connor Bedard (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist
- Frank Nazar (CHI) — 1 goal
What’s Next
The Blackhawks head to Detroit on Friday to take on the Red Wings at 6 p.m.