It was a weird night for the Blackhawks, who got out to a nice lead, managed to piss it away, and then still won* in overtime in spite of themselves. The Bears are also on, and let’s admit we all care about that more, so let’s hit the basics:
I HAD THE BEARS ON AT THE SAME TIME
– Strange first period for the Hawks, as they were really getting dominated until they scored two goals in quick fashion. First, Ryan Carpenter tallied his first goal as a Blackhawk on a shorthanded effort following a really nice takeaway and rush. We knew that Carpenter wasn’t anything special when the Hawks signed him, but he’s proven to be a worthwhile addition as a botton-six, penalty killing puck winner for this team, and has played both the pivot and wing. His play here was just great all around, as he forced the turnover in the defensive zone, took it up the ice before making a nice pass to Connor Murphy, and then filled the proper lane to get to the front of the net for Murphy’s rebound, which popped right to him.
Shortly there after, David Pastrnak (who is one ugly motherfucker, by the way) took a penalty, and the Hawks struck quickly. Dylan Strome had a nice screen out front and deflected an Erik Gustafsson shot right in front of the net, making a quick impact in his return from concussion protocol. Good to see from him. Those two goals came just 37 seconds apart.
– Those two quick goals on opposite special teams were the only real bright spot of that first period for the Hawks though, as they got shelled in shot attempts with a paltry 41.38 CF% at evens.
– Second period was better for the Hawks from a possession standpoint (53.33 CF%) but they were largely lucky to still be up in the game after giving the Bruins PP 4 total tries in the game in the first two period. Lehner stood on his head and the PK-ers made some nice plays, but it was pretty sloppy from the Hawks overall.
– Alex DeBrincat finally was able to break out of his shnide and found the back of the net for the first time in forever. That goal came #17seconds into the third period, and put the Hawks up 3-0. It did not go well from there.
– No doubt in large part to score effects, the Bruins ended up with a 62.16 CF% in the third period, and it ended up costing the Hawks in a big way. They ended up coughing up the lead, and while it’s easy to point out some bad plays from Gustafsson (which is beating a dead horse) or others, in reality it was just the Bruins getting some hockey justice for all of the domination earlier in the game. It also was the better team finally getting their payoff for being the better team.
– Jonathan Toews legitimately has ice water in his veins. The guy just has a knack for big goals in OT, especially on breakaways. I wonder if any goalies have nightmares about him coming at them alone in OT or on the shootout. I probably would.
– BEAR DOWN MY FRENTS.
