Blackhawks Postgame
Blackhawks Young Core & Special Teams Shine in 2-1 Win Over Kings
It came down to the wire, but the Chicago Blackhawks held on to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night. It’s just the second win in eight games for the Blackhawks since Nov. 20.
Leading the charge for Chicago in the second game of the current West Coast road trip were several core members of the franchise’s rebuild. Connor Bedard remained red-hot with his 18th goal of the season, Wyatt Kaiser potted the game-winner late in the second period, and Frank Nazar had his most noticeable performance in weeks. But perhaps most importantly, Spencer Knight stood on his head once again, stopping 26 of 27 shots faced to earn his ninth win of the year.
The key impacts from the youngsters didn’t stop there, however. Alex Vlasic had one of his best games of the season, both offensively and defensively. Oliver Moore forced a pivotal turnover to set up Kaiser for his game-winning goal and now has points in three of his last five games. Colton Dach, as always, was physical every time he stepped onto the ice, with four hits in just 8:23 of action.
Seemingly every central piece of GM Kyle Davidson’s rebuild that’s up in the NHL played a part in a crucial Blackhawks’ victory. It was a lot of fun to watch them all fight hard for each other and pick up a much-needed two points in a building the team has struggled in over the years. Thursday marked the first regulation win for Chicago in Los Angeles since Mar. 2, 2018.
The Blackhawks also leaned heavily on their special teams department in Los Angeles. Both the power play and penalty kill made an impact in the close-contested matchup. The man advantage went 1-for-3 on the night with a goal from Bedard, while the PK went 5-for-5, including a clutch 6-on-4 kill in the final moments of the contest.
Special teams have been a strength for the Blackhawks throughout the season, especially on the road. Coming into Thursday, the power play had converted on 38.9 percent of its chances in road games since Nov. 5. The penalty kill was also 13-for-14 in the last five road contests. The win wouldn’t have been possible without some more fantastic work from both units.
Here are the highlights and a recap of the Blackhawks’ 2-1 win in Los Angeles, moving their road record to 6-4-3 on the season.
FIRST PERIOD
Both teams were firing the puck on net early and often in the opening 20 minutes, but there weren’t many dangerous opportunities for either side. Still, head coach Jeff Blashill has recently talked about wanting his team to have a more shoot-first mentality, and that was on display in the first period. The Blackhawks had nine shots on goal and 19 shot attempts in the first 8:30 of the contest.
Matt Grzelcyk was whistled for interference at the midway point of the period, so the Kings’ 30th-ranked power play hit the ice for the first time. They showed why their man advantage ranks near the bottom of the league, as the Blackhawks spent a fair amount of the two minutes in Los Angeles’ end of the ice. Vlasic made a terrific play with an active stick to get a clear, and the Kings were never able to set up in the offensive zone afterwards.
Just after Grzelcyk’s penalty expired, the Kings generated one of their best scoring opportunities of the period. Former Blackhawks first-round pick Phillip Danault had a grade-A chance to put his team ahead, but Knight came up with a massive glove stop.
Both Knight and Darcy Kuemper were sharp to start the game. Kuemper’s best stop of the stanza came on Andre Burakovsky after a slick feed to the far post from Bedard.
Rookie Artyom Levshunov has been the culprit of a few shaky defensive moments in the past few weeks, but I thought he did an excellent job of using an active stick on a 2-on-1 rush for the Kings late in the period. Levshunov reached out and deflected Joel Armia’s shot up and out of play, preventing a quality shot from getting to his goaltender.
It was yet another strong road start for the Blackhawks, as they led 22-10 in shot attempts, 11-8 in shots on goal, 9-6 in scoring chances, 4-2 in high-danger chances, and 0.92-0.43 in expected goals. The only issue was that they couldn’t stay out of the penalty box, with infractions from Grzlecyk, Bedard, and Moore in the period.
SECOND PERIOD
Moments after the Blackhawks killed the rest of Moore’s penalty that carried over, Nazar received a partial breakaway off a Kings’ turnover in their own zone. Nazar rifled the shot to the glove side, but Kuemper fought off the puck to keep it from getting behind him. The finished product continues to elude Frankie
Finally, the Blackhawks earned their first power-play opportunity of the night near the 14-minute mark in the middle frame. It didn’t take long for the top unit to cash in, as Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi quickly pulled off a perfect give-and-go passing play to put the visitors ahead 1-0. Bedard stuffed home Bertuzzi’s feed for his 18th goal of the season, which also extended his road point streak to nine games. Nazar extended his point streak to four games with the secondary assist.
Bedard seemed extra energized after finding the back of the net, making a tremendous play to turn defense into offense for another prime scoring chance just over two minutes later.
The Blackhawks’ penalty problems occurred again near the halfway point of the contest, as Louis Crevier was called for interference on Alex Turcotte. However, this one shouldn’t have been called by the officials. That was a clear dive by Turcotte. Blashill wasn’t very pleased on the bench.
A crazy turn of events in the final moments of the period played a huge part in the outcome. After the Kings failed to capitalize on a dreadful giveaway by Knight behind his net, the Blackhawks raced down the other end of the ice and added to their lead with 5.1 seconds remaining. Moore forced a giveaway along the wall, and then Nazar set up Kaiser for his first goal of the season to make it 2-0 going into the second intermission.
Here’s a look at the chaotic sequence just seconds before Kaiser’s goal. Connor Murphy helped keep the puck from crossing the line with a kick save, and Nazar made a tremendous effort with his stick to deflect a shot attempt. PHEW! That could have been a disaster.
Los Angeles came with its best push of the period in the final half, but the Blackhawks were still the better team through two frames. Chicago led 40-36 in shot attempts, 21-13 in shots on goal, 18-17 in scoring chances, and 8-5 in high-danger chances at 5v5 after 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
Nazar remained active early in the third period, making a sneaky-good play to create a chance for Bertuzzi off the rush in the opening minutes. The 21-year-old faked like he was going to dump the puck into the offensive zone, only to actually ship the puck over to Bertuzzi, who was all alone skating up the left flank. The gritty forward’s shot sailed high and wide of Kuemper.
Bedard also kept his foot on the pedal and tried to add another insurance goal. He forced a turnover and found Levshunov open at the right dot, but Kuemper made the save.
Los Angeles finally broke up Knight’s shutout bid with just under 10 minutes to play in the third. Bedard perhaps got caught being too aggressive, as he turned the puck over at center ice. Then, Warren Foegele won a foot race to negate an icing call and fed Trevor Moore in front to cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 2-1.
Nazar’s noteworthy night wasn’t done yet, as he made another tremendous set of plays to create an odd-man rush and draw a penalty while crashing the Kings’ net. The Blackhawks didn’t score on the ensuing power play, but they were at least able to drain some clock and keep Kuemper in his net.
Once Kuemper finally got off the ice for the extra attacker, Bedard made a poor decision by hooking Adrian Kempe while skating into the Blackhawks’ end of the ice. It was Bedard’s second penalty of the night, which gave the Kings a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:29 to work with.
Fortunately, Knight was up to the task in the dwindling moments and kept his team ahead until the final horn sounded. As the group greeted Knight near his crease after the win, Bedard was spotted giving Knight major props for bailing him out at the end of the game.
A great team win for the Blackhawks moves their record to 12-9-6 on the season. They return to action next on Saturday… against the Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Weird, right?
For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now and like our Facebook Page.
Follow us on X:
