8 Thoughts From Blackhawks 3-2 Win Over Penguins
Despite blowing a two-goal lead for the third time this season, the Blackhawks still managed to escape with a win in the shootout.
The Chicago Blackhawks picked up their second consecutive win under interim coach Derek King on Tuesday night, defeating the depleted Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in a shootout. After going 1-9-2 in 12 games under Jeremy Colliton, the Blackhawks are now 2-0-0 with King behind the bench and have won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Here are 8 thoughts from the Blackhawks 3-2 victory:
1. Seth Jones’ Mammoth Performance
Hear those crickets? That’s Seth Jones silencing his critics across the hockey world.
Jones put together arguably his best performance of the year by scoring his first goal as a member of the Blackhawks and leading the team with a whopping 31:24 of ice time. Oh, and by the way, the goal was an absolute beauty, in case you were wondering.
Jones added five shots on goal, three blocked shots, two hits, and played 3:09 of the five-minute overtime period. That’s a number one defenseman for ya, Chicago.
2. Lackluster 3rd Period Nearly Costs Blackhawks
While the Blackhawks found themselves ahead 2-0 after 40 minutes, the Penguins were in complete control for the entirety of the third period and nearly won the game in regulation. Pittsburgh outshot the Hawks 20-5, led 14-3 in scoring chances, and tied the game with two goals in just over 10 minutes from 36-year-old Jeff Carter. With their backs against the wall, once again, the Blackhawks had no answers defensively.
Also, considering the Penguins were without Sidney Crosby (COVID), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Brian Dumoulin (COVID), Chad Ruhwedel (COVID), Marcus Pettersson (COVID), AND head coach Mike Sullivan (…COVID), the effort by the Blackhawks in the final 20 minutes is all the more discouraging.
3. Marc-Andre Fleury Saves The Day
Fortunately for the Hawks’ defense, Fleury was up for the challenge against the team that selected him first overall in the 2003 NHL Draft. Fleury stopped 18 of the 20 shots that he faced in the third period — and 42 of 44 on the night — to earn his second win of the season. Fleury also stopped both Pens’ skaters during the shootout.
Going back to Oct. 16 against Pittsburgh, Fleury was pulled in the first period after allowing four goals on just 10 shots. The 2021 Vezina Trophy winner was quite happy to respond with a much-improved performance in his second meeting of the season against the Penguins.
“I was happy to get the nod and get a crack at them again,” Fleury said after the game. “It was frustrating and embarrassing last time, to go back there and do so [poorly]. Tonight went better.”
4. Vintage Jonathan Toews? Vintage Jonathan Toews.
Toews is still without a goal through the opening 14 games of the season, but ‘Captain Serious’ is certainly beginning to show more and more flashes of his old self.
Early in the second period, Toews won an offensive-zone faceoff, used his size to get positioning on the Penguins’ defender, and then made a terrific cross-crease pass to set up Jujhar Khaira for his first goal in a Blackhawks’ sweater.
Toews — as he always seems to do — went on to beat Penguins’ goaltender Tristan Jarry five-hole in the shootout to help the Blackhawks come away with the extra point. Toews also won 16-of-25 faceoffs and now sits seventh in the NHL with a 60.9 faceoff-win percentage.
5. Powerplay Has Gone Cold…. But There Is Hope
After scoring a power-play goal in eight of 10 games to start the season, the Blackhawks have now failed to score on the man advantage in each of their last four contests, going 0-for-12 in that stretch.
However, the powerplay still registered seven shots on goal and created three scoring chances during their two opportunities in Tuesday’s game, according to Natural Stat Trick. Also, Alex DeBrincat should have come through for a goal on the Hawks’ first powerplay chance, but his shot on a wide-open net wound up hitting the far post.
6. Calvin de Haan: Warrior
In his 18:12 of ice time, de Haan was credited with four blocked shots, and all four of them did some damage. During the second period, de Haan blocked a shot while the Blackhawks were shorthanded and immediately exited to the dressing room. Just a few minutes later, the warrior-like de Haan was already back on the bench. Although, he probably wished he stayed back there for a couple of more minutes.
On his next shift after returning, de Haan blocked yet another shot and dropped to the ice in pain. Once again, de Haan went back to the dressing room, and once again, he would return to the bench with his teammates for the remainder of the game. Expect a maintenance day out of Calvin at Blackhawks’ practice on Wednesday morning.
7. Patrick Kane Keeps On Producing
Kane recorded the primary assist on Jones’ first goal with the Blackhawks, which now gives ‘Showtime’ eight points (four goals, four assists) in five games since returning from COVID-19 protocol. Kane is up to 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 10 games on the season.
8. Wyatt Kalynuk Nearing His Return
Just prior to the Blackhawks hitting the ice for pregame warmups, defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk was activated off long-term injured reserve after missing the first month-plus of the regular season with a right ankle sprain. Kalynuk did not dress in Tuesday’s game, but the 24-year-old defenseman could be in line to return to the lineup on Friday vs. Arizona.
With Kalynuk on the cusp of being fully healthy, Erik Gustafsson is likely going to be the odd-man-out on the backend for the Blackhawks going forward. Gustafsson saw just 8:06 of ice time against the Penguins and has played a total of 14:27 in two games under King.
Glad to hear Gustafsson is on his way out. Bowman should have never resigned him in the first place.