The Blackhawks returned to the United Center to host the Devils Thursday night after their seven-game winning streak ended in Boston Tuesday. Head coach Jeremy Collition said some of his players simply just didn’t have it that night. Looking for a rebound game at home, the Hawks needed to play better against a Devils team that put up a lot of goals on them earlier this season.
The game started with a nice ceremony for forward Chris Kunitz who played in his 1,000th game. The Blackhawks gave him a silver stick and honored he and his family just before the national anthem. Kunitz also started the game on a line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
First Period
Less than five minutes into the game, the Devils’ Nico Hischier went off for a holding penalty putting Chicago on the powerplay. The Hawks had some good movement and put on some good shots, but the Devils killed the penalty. A few minutes after, Erik Gustafsson turned the puck over trying to get it up the boards and out of the zone. Brett Seney stole the puck and found Damon Severson right in the slot who wristed home the first goal of the game.
The pressure continued on Cam Ward as the Devils peppered him with shots. He had to make several saves from different angles, and he had some difficulty with his rebound control.
With four minutes left in the period, Brent Seabrook went off for a minor penalty for cross-checking. The Devils took care of business right away. The cycled the puck behind the net and found Travis Zajac right in front who beat Ward for the second goal of the game.
It wasn’t long before the Blackhawks responded. There was a penalty on the Devils when Patrick Kane jumped over the boards to be the sixth skater on the ice. Dylan Sikura protected the puck from his defender and passed the puck off to a streaking Kane who fired the puck past Cory Schneider making the score 2-1.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/CoqBA2Gk2Y
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 15, 2019
Second Period
The Hawks started the second with all the momentum. Drake Caggiula took the puck wide of Devil’s goaltender Corey Schneider and fired a rocket top shelf tying the game at two. The Hawks seemed to pick up their pace a little more after the Devils did a great job of winning puck battles in the first period.
Later in the second, the Blackhawks were on a rush when Patrick Kane put on the breaks as he entered the Devil’s zone. He dropped a pass back to Slater Koekkoek who was skating towards the net. He passed the puck over to a wide-open Jonathan Toews who one-timed home the go ahead goal giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead.
The Devils couldn’t do much in the second period as the Hawks kept them on their heels. The threat of Blackhawks mobile defenseman like Erik Gustafsson is very high risk but also high reward. Even Carl Dahlstrom jumps into plays to put pressure on opposing defensemen to back them up. The Hawks just have to keep an eye on the rush going back the other way.
You're just too good to be true
I can't take my eyes off you #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/1ePGIkMN0H— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 15, 2019