Blackhawks Postgame
Jason Dickinson Injured in Overtime Loss To Oilers
The Chicago Blackhawks gave the Edmonton Oilers all they could handle Wednesday but came up short in a 4-3 overtime loss. To their credit, they erased a late two-deficit to force the extra session and gain a point in the standings. It was a hard-fought loss that saw the young players contribute, which is the most important thing for the rest of the season.
The goaltenders, Arvid Soderblom and Calvin Pickard were the stars of the first period. They combined for 27 saves to keep the game scoreless through 20 minutes. Viktor Arvidsson scored the game’s opening goal nine minutes into the second period. About a minute after the Blackhawks killed their second penalty of the night, Arvidsson beat Ryan Donato to the left dot and beat Soderblom with a quick snap shot.
Lukas Reichel evened up the score with 5.8 seconds left in the middle frame. Teuvo Teravainen knew that the period was winding down and just put the puck toward the net. Reichel was right in front to redirect it past Pickard for his fifth goal of the season.
Despite having a flu bug going through the locker room and having to play in overtime last night, the Oilers took control of the third period. Just over a minute into the frame, Jeff Skinner found some space in front of the net and broke the tie with a backhand goal. Leon Draisaitl doubled the lead seven minutes later by taking advantage of an Alec Martinez turnover.
The Blackhawks finally got their first power play of the night midway through the frame, and they took advantage of it. Teravainen made the same play for the first goal, but Donato redirected the puck from the slot this time. Martinez made up for his earlier turnover four minutes later by tying the game. The play started with Bedard winning a board battle, before Donato found an open Martinez.
In overtime, the Blackhawks survived a 3v1 rush with Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard but couldn’t survive a too-many-men penalty. McDavid found Zach Hyman in front of the net for the easy tap-in game-winner.
Jason Dickinson’s Injury “Doesn’t Look Good”
Early in the second period, Jason Dickinson’s leg bent awkwardly underneath him after he was swiped from behind by Vasily Podkolzin. He needed to be helped off the ice and went straight to the locker room without putting any weight on his left leg.
Dickinson did not return to the game and was spotted wearing a walking boot leaving the United Center. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen said they’d know more tomorrow, but “it doesn’t look good.”
“He’s valuable for us,” he added. “He does a lot of PK, a lot of face-offs, tough matchups. I thought a lot of guys stepped up after his absence when he got hurt.”
A Much Better First Period
Saturday against the Florida Panthers, Landon Slaggert scored the fastest goal to start a game in franchise history, giving the Blackhawks a lead seven seconds into the contest. The Panthers dominated the remaining 19:53 of the first period. They outshot the Blackhawks 22-4, had a 47-9 shot attempt advantage, and had 27 scoring chances to only five for the visitors.
Sorensen knew that slowing down the Oilers’ attack would be difficult heading into tonight’s game.
“I think we have to try to slow them down, especially their top guys,” he said. “We know who they are and must try to get in their way. Also, tilt the ice in terms of shot volume a little bit, play in their zone, get a little shot volume the other way, and try to get them to defend a little bit more.”
I wouldn’t say the Blackhawks slowed down the Oilers during the opening frame, but they kept up with them. They did a good job of preventing extended shifts in the defensive zone. They controlled much of the 5v5 play. They headed down the tunnel for the first intermission with a 21-15 lead in shot attempts and an 11-6 scoring chance advantage. To say tonight’s opening frame was an improvement would be the understatement of the season.
Hard-Working Top Line Performs Well Again
Midway through Saturday’s loss, Sorensen mixed up his lines to try and find a spark. He put Landon Slaggert andDonatowith Connor Bedard, and the trio clicked. In 3:58 of 5v5 ice time together, they had 11 shot attempts to just four against. No other line combination had more than four shot attempts. They also produced seven of the Blackhawks’ 20 scoring chances.
It was an easy decision to keep this line together. With the Pacific Division leaders in town, there had to be a line with a chance to sustain offensive zone time. That was the hope of Sorensen heading into the game, wanting them to replicate how they finished the game in Florida.
“They were really good on the forecheck, generated some chances, but also reliable defensively there,” he said. “I thought there were some good moments together, so try and stack those events here together tonight.”
This line had another good outing and did it against McDavid for much of the night. They had the highest Corsi for percentage (CF%) at 66.6 by out-attempting the Oilers 14-7 in 9:37 of 5v5 ice time. In addition to producing the game-tying goal, the line had eight scoring chances to just three for the Oilers and only allowed one high-danger scoring chance.
“I thought they were good,” Sorensen said after the game. “I thought off the rush, we had a couple of turnovers there that obviously hurt us a little bit. Other than that, I thought they generated. When Dickey left, there was a bit of a jumbling of lines, and then we kind of put them together again back in the third, and obviously a big goal for us.”
Craig Smith Gets Back to Business
For the first time since Jan. 8, veteran forward Craig Smith dressed for the Blackhawks. He was back on the fourth line with Pat Maroon and Reichel. When this trio was put together early in the season, it didn’t turn many heads. The consensus was that Reichel was being held back by playing with two physical veterans instead of being higher up in the line. Instead, they became one of the most effective lines of the season.
“Looking forward to having him back,” Sorensen said of Smith. “That line has a history of playing well there, with Reichel and Patty. Looking forward to seeing that tonight.”
Coming into tonight’s game, only Teravainen, Dickinson, and Ilya Mikheyev have had more ice time together at 5v5. In 150:55, the Smith had a 47.54 CF%, the sixth highest of any line with at least 50 minutes of ice time together. At 5v5, they lead the team with 86 shots on goal, 66 scoring chances, and 32 high-danger scoring chances.
The line was ok in its return. They generated six shot attempts while allowing seven. They were limited to 6:37 of 5v5 ice time together after Dickinson left, as Reichel was double-shifting on the third line, where he scored his second-period goal.
The Blackhawks went 2-3-3 during their stretch of eight straight games against teams in playoff spots. If you remove the game against the Panthers, they played seven solid games. The biggest positive to take away from this stretch is that the young players who will matter when this team is good again have been leading the way on most nights. That’s something you can give a stick tap to.
