After a narrow divisional win on Wednesday night, the Blackhawks looked to give Jeremy Colliton his first winning streak as head coach in the NHL. The Kings came in as one of the worst teams in the league, sitting 30th in the standings.
The lineup was very similar to the one that stole a win from the Blues just a few nights prior. Brandon Davidson went on the IR and Marcus Kruger was activated. He took Luke Johnson’s place on the fourth line. The lines were as follows:
Schmaltz – Toews – Kane
DeBrincat – Kampf – Kahun
Saad – Anisimov – Hayden
Kunitz – Kruger – Martinsen
Keith – Seabrook
Gustafsson – Jokiharju
Manning – Forsling
Crawford
First Period:
Early action in the first period was highlighted by back and forth chances for both the Kings and Blackhawks. Neither team could crack the opposing goaltender as the game remained scoreless early on.
Kings goaltender Calvin Petersen, Notre Dame alumnus, was making his first career start Friday night at a place he was very familiar with. Petersen played high school hockey in the Chicagoland area and his college hockey an hour and a half east in South Bend, Indiana. Petersen made some incredible saves early on. Despite the best look in the first period for Chicago being a wide shot by Patrick Kane on an open look, Petersen slammed the door on all other quality chances early.
Corey Crawford was also spectacular in the opening frame. Mid-way through the first period, Crawford made an incredible point-blank save on an Adrian Kempe shot in the slot. Kempe was wide open after Blackhawks’ center David Kampf got caught beneath the goal line with both Chicago defenders. Crawford made the incredible save in the end and kept the Kings off the board.
Crawford makes a nice save on Kempe. No. 9 had all day to shoot because three #Blackhawks were caught behind the net. pic.twitter.com/aeT48X4p5w
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) November 17, 2018
In the late half of the first period, Tyler Toffoli had an excellent attempt in front after Jeff Carter distributed a puck from beneath the goal line to the front of the blue paint. It was hard to tell, but it looked like Crawford was able to get a tiny piece of the puck and keep what could have been an easy goal out of his net.
The Blackhawks entered the intermission trailing the Kings 10-8 in shots on goal. Strong play from both goaltenders kept the game scoreless after one period.
Second Period:
Early in the second period, the Blackhawks were granted a great opportunity on the power play. They went 1-for-2 on the man advantage Wednesday night and looked to build off that performance going into the game against Los Angeles. However, fans were treated to the more likely scenario, as the power play could get nothing started. All shots on net were not high danger chances and allowed the young visiting goaltender to make some easy saves.
At the 10:29 mark of the period, the Blackhawks were exiting the zone when Duncan Keith found Erik Gustafsson headed up ice. Gustafsson looked like he was tripped on the play but no penalty was called and the Kings went flying up the ice.
Tyler Toffoli carried the puck over the blue line on the right wing boards, crossed over to the left wing side and fired a shot on net. The puck looked to be going wide but it glanced off Duncan Keith’s leg. The puck snuck through Crawford’s five-hole on the deflection and put the Kings up 1-0.
Late in the period, on a Blackhawks power play, Petersen made a spectacular save to deny a quality chance from entering the back of the net. The young netminder made numerous high quality saves late in the period. Chicago had three power play chances in the period but were unable to capitalize. A late slashing penalty by Toews sent the Blackhawks in to the intermission down a man. The Kings led 1-0 and led 22-20 in shots on goal through two frames.
Third Period:
The Blackhawks killed the Kings penalty to open the third period, but still could not get anything going offensively for themselves. Down 1-0, Chicago needed to find life and push back if they wanted any chance of winning against Los Angeles.
At the 2:39 mark, the Blackhawks’ luck changed with newly activated Gustav Forsling adding some much needed playmaking to the Chicago back end.
Forsling dumped a puck deep around the boards and Brandon Saad picked it up on the right wing boards. Saad sent it low to Jonathan Toews and drove to the front of the net. Toews was able to free himself from the Kings defender and put a perfect give-and-go pass on Saad’s blade. Saad quickly shuffled the puck past Petersen and tied the game for the Blackhawks.
As Eddie Olczyk says, “good things happen when you go to the net”, and the Blackhawks found some good fortune as they beat young Petersen for the first time all night.
Crashin' the net 💥#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/qmt0xSa0BN
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 17, 2018
Chances were exchanged for the remainder of the period but the game found its way to extra time as the teams were tied at one goal a piece. The Blackhawks were, however, able to reclaimed the shots on goal advantage (34-32) after three periods.
Overtime:
Neither team could generate anything in overtime, as only one shot on goal was registered between both teams. The best play of the period came from the Forsling – Anisimov – DeBrincat combination.
About half way through the extra time, the aforementioned combination played catch in the offensive zone. Forsling made a cross ice pass to DeBrincat near the blue line. Alex DeBrincat skated half-way down the right wing boards before dropping the puck back to Artem Anisimov. Anisimov found a crashing Gustav Forsling out in front but the tipped puck was soaked up by Petersen.
The Kings nearly struck gold when Anze Kopitar batted a puck out of mid-air late in overtime. However, the puck hit the post, narrowly missing the back of the net and sending the Kings home happy. Although a great chance, the Blackhawks and Kings needed a shootout to determine a winner.
Shootout:
The Kings and Blackhawks only needed four shooters to decide Friday’s outcome. Jonathan Toews shot first for Chicago and was denied by Petersen. The Kings then sent Ilya Kovalchuk out to face Corey Crawford. After being sent back because of an early start and an unready linesman, Kovalchuk converted low glove side on Crawford to put the Kings up 1-0.
The second round saw Patrick Kane get denied by Petersen after attempting his trademarked slow move in on the goaltender. Kane attempted to put the puck over Petersen’s left pad but could not convert. The Kings sent out Kopitar to try and give the Kings only their sixth win of the season. Kopitar easily beat Crawford and the Kings beat the Blackhawks 2-1 in a shootout.
The Good:
- Chances: Chicago was able to generate great chances throughout the entire game. Numerous high quality saves were required by Calvin Petersen to keep the Blackhawks off the board. Chances from Kane, Forsling and others could have easily been goals had it not been for great goaltending for the visitors.
- Goaltending: As mentioned above, goaltending was really good for both teams until the shootout where Corey Crawford was 0-for-2. However, Crawford was spectacular once again for the Blackhawks, making some great point-blank saves on Kings forwards. Crawford gave the home team a chance to win, and really, that’s all you can ask for from your goaltender.
The Bad:
- Turnovers: Many careless turnovers for the Blackhawks resulted in quality chances for the Kings. Crawford came up big on most of them, but a turnover from Gustafsson (on a play that could have been a penalty) led to the opening goal of the game for the Kings. If the Blackhawks defensemen can clean up the turnovers, they may be able to rattle off some wins and keep Crawford from having to carry the team on his back.
- Depth scoring: Although third-liner Brandon Saad scored the lone goal for the Blackhawks, it came when he was added to the top line left wing with Toews and Kane. The Blackhawks have become a one line team, similar to the Artemi Panarin days. The depth players have not been scoring at all. DeBrincat has gone cold and others like Nick Schmaltz and Dominik Kahun have disappeared from the scoresheet. If for some reason the Blackhawks’ players don’t want Jack Hughes in their locker room next season, they will need scoring from other players besides Toews, Kane and Saad if they expect to compete.
The Blackhawks return to action on Sunday, November 18th for Hockey Fights Cancer night at the United Center. Eddie Olczyk will participate in the Last Shift program for the Blackhawks and likely be recognized for winning his battle with cancer. Chicago will wear their purple jerseys in warmups as they take on divisional foe, the Minnesota Wild, at 5:00pm CST.