The Chicago Blackhawks limped into Crypto.com Arena yesterday afternoon to play the Los Angeles Kings, a day after dropping a should-have-won game against the San Jose Sharks the night before. The Hawks played well against the next-to-last-place Sharks — Chicago having the honour of last place in the overall NHL standings — at least well enough to win, but they came up short, something that’s happened a lot so far this season. In short, they laid the proverbial egg.
Going up against the Kings looked imposing, LA having a team much better at present than the still-rebuilding, yet veteran-laden Blackhawks. Losing to the Sharks was a downer, and losing to the Kings would be a downer too, yet perhaps a more understandable one.
Chicago did not disappoint. The laid another egg — Blackhawks being one of the more prolific egg-producing clubs in the NHL to date — and for the first fifty minutes gave no sense that they were going to be competitive, watching the Kings control the puck, win the battles, control the face-off dot, and generally ride roughshod over the Hawks. Having a two-goal lead, 2-0, midway through the third seemed almost to be a guarantee that Chicago fans would witness what they’ve witnessed several times already this year, an empty-net, extra-skater mad scramble at the end that comes up empty. And that’s exactly what their fans got. Sort of.
Tyler Bertuzzi jammed in a puck with 32 seconds remaining to send the Hawks to overtime against the Kings, a game settled in the shoot-out when leading goal scorer Ryan Donato — wait, what? — absolutely pretzelized Kings’ net-minder Darcy Kemper to give the Hawks the win that, for the most part, they so richly didn’t deserve.
The first 50 minutes of that game was some of the worst hockey from one of the worst teams that I had seen in a long time, and with this group over the past two years, that’s saying something. But then Hawks captain Nick Foligno, all 37 years-old of him, got the Hawks going by doing something the Hawks struggle with: shoot the puck. In the offensive zone, mid-way through the third period, Foligno found himself with few or no good options, and, rather than turning the puck over with a pass to nobody, put the puck on net and then followed it into slot area himself, banging home a rebound to bring the Hawks within a goal of the Kings at 2-1. It should also be noted that Foligno got the blood going with a fight against Kings’ tough guy, Tanner Jeannot, a fight Nick didn’t lose, but maybe didn’t win either. Didn’t matter though, since by that time the rest of the bench took note of the fact that Foligno was busting his ass — again — and putting the example out there for the rest of the team to follow.
And sure enough, shortly after that, a fourth line shift had Lukas Reichel streaking down the right boards into Kings territory before firing a crisper to Craig Smith in front for a quick shot that knotted things up at 2-2. For Smith, it was his fourth goal of the season, putting him tied for second on the Hawks scoring chart, tied with both Bertuzzi and Foligno, all three of them scoring in this game.
Okay, so I have to address something here. Ryan Donato leading the Hawks with six goals, followed by Bertuzzi, Foligno, and Smith. A fourth line player, twice scratched, leading the Hawks in goal scoring, followed by a second line guy, a third line guy, and another fourth. Fourth line guys out at 3-on-3 for overtime. And a fourth line guy scoring essentially the winning goal in the shootout — Donato — like what the blazes is going on? Isn’t there a guy named Bedard somewhere around?
Well, yes there is, and Connor Bedard is still the Hawks’ leading scorer with nine points in twelve games, but his three goals on the season so far puts him tied with Teuvo Teravainen for third in the team goal-scoring race. And make no mistake, Bedard could have scored a hat-trick in overtime — I know, you only need one to end it — with the chances he had after pulling off a highlight reel shift that would have the Harlem Globetrotters taking notes. But none of them went in, although he’s certainly leaving a lot of puck marks on the posts and crossbars of the league. So if you’re a Hawk fan, don’t panic on this guy. Plus, he’s fun to watch. I just wish he wouldn’t skate into traffic so much when he has the puck. He’s got a shot to drool over, can score from anywhere, and just needs to figure it out a bit at the NHL level. Yes, leading the Hawks in scoring after twelve games, yet he still has stuff to figure out? Kinda scary, that.
The Kings put Blackhawks’s fans back in their seats when Phillip Daneault banked one in off the boards with a little more than eight minutes remaining to put LA back up 3-2. And so here we go again, the frantic flurry at the end, leading nowhere, except that it did when Bertuzzi shovelled the puck past Kemper with 32 seconds left.
Overtime went the distance, both teams having their chances, and I have to say that Chicago goalie Peter Mrazek was the difference in this five-minute frame, as he was the entire game for the Hawks, keeping them close enough despite the team being horribly out-played for the first fifty minutes. He also stopped what was necessary to stop in the shootout.
And so, the Hawks lose one they should have won, and won one they should have lost. I guess it balances out, but they’d be feeling a lot better had they taken that game against San Jose as well.
And they can’t complain about secondary scoring. Donato, Smith, and Lucas Reichel are all fourth line players — although Reichel is a developing top-six guy— and Foligno is best utilized as a third line player. In fact, we’re starting to see that fourth line get more and more minutes in more and more situations. If the Hawks can get the top-six mobilized ( Bedard, Taylor Hall, Teravainen, Kurashev, even Bertuzzi) they might start to gain some traction. Donato actually started the game on the first unit with Bedard, so there you go.
So at the end of the swing through Dodger Land, the Hawks are no longer in last place in the NHL standings. Ironically, that spot belongs to the very Sharks who beat them Friday. A Chicago win against the Sharks coupled with the victory over the Kings would have had the Hawks tied with six teams at 11 points, positions 18 through 23 in the standings versus their current 9 points, tied with four other clubs in positions 27 through 31.
For perspective, a Los-Angeles County sweep would have them three points out of the top-ten in the league at present. It kind of makes you think about those tight games they’ve let slip through their fingers over the course of their first twelve games.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 