CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks are last in the NHL, but have had some high-profile wins against good teams this year. They hoped to bring some of that magic when they hosted the Vegas Golden Knights at the United Center on Saturday night.
The Knights entered the race as co-leaders of the Pacific Division (Edmonton Oilers), which is rightfully the best division in the league. Vegas is a legitimate threat to win the Stanley Cup.
From the start, the Golden Knights looked nothing like the team that had played the night before. At 9:29 of the first period, Victor Olofsson scored to make it 1-0 for the Knights. Some nice passing between Tomas Hertl and Alex Pietrangelo led to Olofsson firing a great shot into the net, but he didn’t miss.
The Hawks then took the lead during this period. Before the first break, Lukas Reichel, Tyler Bertuzzi and Taylor Hall all scored goals to make it 3-1. All hockey goals are special, but Reichel’s was even more impressive. He channeled Patrick Kane’s example with his move.
If you have a 3-1 lead at the first break you should have a good chance of winning the game. However, things got a little dicey for the Hawks in the second period when Tomas Hertl scored two goals and tied the game 3-3.
It looked like that score would go into the second intermission, but Seth Jones got the team going with a goal. Connor Bedard made a nice pass to send Jones into the net with a lineout, and he buried the ball. Leading 4-3 at the second intermission is much better than being tied after blowing a two-goal lead .
At 4:08 of the final frame, Tyler Bertuzzi scored his second goal of the game. Parked in front of the net on the power play, he tapped in a beautiful (and clever) pass from Teuvo Teravainen. This insurance goal gave the team the confidence they needed to play properly for the remainder of the season.
This 5-3 result was the finale for Chicago. They once again beat a top team in the league and it was a largely complete 60 minute performance. All in all, this is the type of game the Blackhawks build on.
This game was particularly special for captain Nick Foligno. It was the 1,200th of his NHL career. He was able to experience this special moment in the presence of his father (it was the Hawks’ father/mentor weekend).
It had to be a good feeling for Foligno to crown this major milestone with a win over an elite team. The scorer’s list said that he provided an assist for the first goal of the game (Lukas Reichel’s nice record).
Another top team invades the United Center on Monday when the Carolina Hurricanes come to town. This is another chance for the Blackhawks to put together a 60-minute performance against a top team.
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