Livescore
Things did not go well for the Blackhawks at the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on New Year’s Eve. The St. Louis Blues beat them 6-2 in what was a blowout from the start.
Coming into Friday night’s match against the Montreal Canadiens, the Hawks needed to dig in and find a good effort. Even if they were going to lose, it was important to avoid getting blown out for the fourth straight game.
In the first period, things started well for the Blackhawks as they were awarded two full minutes of a five-on-three power play. At 3:21 of the opening frame, Tyler Bertuzzi was the beneficiary of a pretty passing play and the Hawks went up 1-0.
Connor Bedard collected an assist on the play as did Teuvo Teravainen who made a beautiful pass to Bertuzzi for the tap-in.
In typical Blackhawks fashion, however, they couldn’t get out of the first with a lead. They allowed Cole Caufield, one of the best goal scorers in the NHL, to walk right in front of the net and he roofed his 20th of the season.
In the second period, Nick Foligno came to the rescue as a good captain does. His neat redirect of Wyatt Kaiser’s shot-pass went into the net and gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead at 7:05 of the middle frame. That would be the end of the scoring in the second.
The Hawks got themselves some wiggle room when Patrick Maroon, who already had a fight and a couple of big hits in the game, scored his second of the season. He drove to the net and Ryan Donato found him for the 3-1 lead.
When Emil Heineman scored a beautiful goal by batting it into the net like a baseball, it felt like the Hawks were destined to lose this game despite the wiggle room that they built and let the losing streak continue.
To keep that from happening, captain Nick Foligno saved the day once again. Alex Vlasic hit a double doink, Taylor Hall just missed the rebound, and Foligno kept working to get the goal at the netmouth. The 4-2 lead was registered at 15:51 of the third and stood as the final score.
Arvid Soderblom was incredible in the goal for the Blackhawks. He made 38 saves on 40 shots and played a key role in winning the game. He was named to be the second star of the game to honor him for his efforts.
The big story coming into the game was Colton Dach making his NHL debut. Dach was incredibly noticeable in his 11:05 of ice time. He had five shots on goal and five hits in the win. To do all of that in just a tick over 11 minutes of ice is remarkable.
It was clear that the Hawks’ physical game reached another level against the Canadiens and that is a result of Colton Dach being in the lineup. He is a hard-nosed power forward who brings that type of effort more often than not.
“I was just trying to take it all in”. Dach said in his postgame availability after the game. He made it obvious that he was happy to be playing in the NHL and bringing a new level of physical play to the team.
Colton Dach said Kirby told him to stay on his feet after he drew that penalty in the first.
“My #1 goal for the first shift was to go out there and try to be physical. Dicky set the tone the first shift and it fed right through to the end of the game.”
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 4, 2025
Now that the Blackhawks have ended the losing streak and have some good vibes going throughout the locker room, they need to work on keeping that going for a longer period. They seem to often take two steps back after taking one step forward so this is a good chance to change that narrative.
Chicago’s next game following this 4-2 win is another Original Six matchup. This time, they will face the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. This is their chance to take advantage of the struggling New York team for the second time in a month.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.
Related: Blackhawks Management Must Enjoy Team USA’s Semifinal Appearance
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post