The Chicago Blackhawks came into Saturday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues having beaten the Anaheim Ducks 1–0 Thursday night at the United Center. Petr Mrazek got his first shutout as a Blackhawk, and kept the team in the game throughout, making every save he was asked to. The Blackhawks looked to continue to win in front of their home crowd and get on a winning streak after some early-season disappointments. Mrazek would stay in net for this game, and Isaak Phillips would check back in after being recalled from Rockford earlier in the day following Kevin Korchinski being placed on the non-roster list while attending to family matters.
First period
The Blackhawks and Blues traded chances early in this game. Seth Jones began the game by taking the puck deep into the offensive zone, allowing an early Jason Dickinson shot. Right after, the Blues came up the ice, with Jake Neighbours taking the puck to the net and was taken down on a hold by Alex Vlasic. The Blackhawks killed off the ensuing power play, and would get another great chance of their own. Cole Guttman had the puck along the boards in the offensive zone. He got it all the way across the ice to Nikita Zaitsev, who put a shot toward the net. That shot deflected off of Anthony Beauvillier and into the back of the net, 1–0 Blackhawks.
when the puck finds you, you score 😎 pic.twitter.com/XbitQbkjy2
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 10, 2023
Five minutes later, after a hardworking shift from the Blackhawks’ fourth line, the puck found its way back to Vlasic at the point. Vlasic put a wrister on net through traffic that found twine, putting the Blackhawks up 2–0. Louis Crevier would pick up the first point of his NHL career on the play.
make that two goals from the d-men 😤 pic.twitter.com/hwridbMPxH
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 10, 2023
The Blackhawks would get a few more good chances, in particular one from Taylor Raddysh that went off the post, but they were not able to put any more into the Blues’ net in the first.
This period did not end without some more fireworks, though, as the Blues were looking to do what they could to will their team back into this contest. Brayden Schenn dropped the mitts with Reese Johnson, with both guys getting in some good jabs in this bout.
Fight night in Chicago: Reese Johnson and Brayden Schenn drop the gloves. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/nS1Za6qGk2
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 10, 2023
Second period
This second period took a while to get going, as both sides traded possession for much of the early part of the frame. However, at the 14:53 mark of the period, Zaitsev made a beautiful slap-pass in front to Jason Dickinson, who redirected the puck home for his ninth of the season, putting the Blackhawks up 3–0.
Jason Dickinson (9) pic.twitter.com/vtVmaorh2C
— Blackhawks Goals (@HawksGoals) December 10, 2023
The Blues outshot the Blackhawks this period, but Mrazek stood tall and stopped every shot he faced. That tremendous play allowed the Blackhawks to maintain a big lead heading into the final frame.
Third period
The Blackhawks kept getting power play opportunities early on in the third period. While they were unable to convert, they did put some good chances on net, but Jordan Binnington stood tall and kept the puck out. Then, on their second power play of the period, they gave up a shorthanded chance to the Blues. With three and a half minutes remaining, the Blues got into the Blackhawks’ zone in a 3-on-1. Nick Leddy got the puck back to the trailing Oskar Sundqvist, who wristed the puck past Mrazek, cutting the margin to 3–1. But, the visitors were unable to get anything else past Mrazek the rest of the way, giving the Blackhawks the victory.
Analysis
The Blackhawks look like a full team at this point in the season. Not only did they get five points from defensemen in this game, but all lines were visible as well. The fourth line stood out, with their help on Vlasic’s goal, and Johnson stepping up to fight when called to as well. Almost everyone on the ice had some sort of positive contribution for once, which is refreshing to see. There have not been many games where it feels like the entire team contributed, which made this a fun game to watch.
Mrazek had back-to-back great games, winning the last one by himself, and not needing the goal support that would have been necessary last year just to keep this team in games, as they were so bad defensively. It is also good to see role players step up, such as Zaitsev, who had arguably his best game in a Blackhawks sweater on Saturday night.
The Blackhawks next play host to the Washington Capitals in a quick turnaround on Sunday. That game will be at 6 p.m. CST on NBC Sports Chicago.