Blackhawks Postgame
4 Thoughts From Blackhawks 5-2 Win Against Avalanche
The Chicago Blackhawks were looking to snap their extended, four-game losing streak against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 28, and it seemed like as good a time as any, but it wouldn’t come easy, as the Avalanche were riding five-game winning streak, including a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators the night before.
The hope was the Blackhawks could take advantage of the Colorado coming off a back-to-back, and a struggling goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev, who had a 1-3-0 record. The Blackhawks had a new-look first line of Philipp Kurashev- Connor Bedard- Teuvo Teravainen, hoping to find a spark. Here are 4 thoughts from the Blackhawks’ 5-2 win against the Avalanche.
1. The Start The Blackhawks Needed
The Blackhawks’ first period was everything you would ever want to see out of an NHL team. They outshot the Avalanche 12-7 and smothered them for most of the period. Philipp Kurashev scored a power-play goal with a great pass from Alex Vlasic. It was Kurashev’s first goal since Oct. 12, so it was much needed.
POWER PLAY GOAL: Philipp Kurashev gets the Blackhawks on the board early in Colorado.
🚨: Kurashev
🍎: Vlasic#Blackhawks lead 1 – 0 pic.twitter.com/HGHcPcqCvb— Chicago Hockey Now (@chihockeynow) October 29, 2024
Lukas Reichel and Craig Smith continued their successful partnership with a goal, as Reichel won a faceoff, and then the puck took a lucky bounce into the net. Then, Ryan Donato did what he does best, working the net-front presence.
Pat Maroon was all over the ice and was a standout, skating hard and making plays.
Unfortunately, the Avalanche got a 5-on-3 power play that eventually made the score 3-2 at the end of the first period, but overall, it felt like a confidence-building period for them.
2. Vlasic Was Blackhawks Ace
If there was one player everywhere, it was Vlasic. Besides his assist on Kurashev’s goal, he did exceptionally well throughout the game. There was one play in the second period where he stripped the puck away from Nathan MacKinnon, which is no small feat, while also leading the team with four blocked shots. He was just in the right place at the right time, stopping potential breakaways, was good on special teams, and really helped to contain the Avalanche.
3. Second Period Sleeper
After such a great first period, the Blackhawks kind of slept through the second period, where the Avalanche ultimately became tied the Blackhawks in shots (17). They really couldn’t get much going. Donato had another good scoring chance, and Kurashev had a chance at the end of the period after Connor Bedard won a faceoff against Mikko Rantanen, but no dice. The only good thing about the second period was that the score remained the same.
4. The Blackhawks Hang On
Usually, the Blackhawks in the third period are nerve-wracking because they usually make a push, but it usually falls short. In this sense, they survived much of the third period, but they held on, which was the difference. They made good blocks when they needed to and disrupted the Avalanche. Donato had a really great game as well. He sealed the game with an empty-net goal. He also had a big hit during the game and is now the Blackhawks’ leading goal-scorer (5). Who would have thought?
And Ilya Mikheyev got his first goal of the season on the empty net to make the game 5-2, which was fun as he was searching for his first point with Chicago.
That was a really great win for the Blackhawks on the road in an arena where they hadn’t won in since 2019. Depth players stepped up, Petr Mrazek was solid, and they needed this one. It was a heart-pounding win, and hopefully, it will give them a much-needed boost for the rest of their road trip.
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