Ryan Donato gave the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead at the 1:08 mark of the first period. Donato retrieved his own dump-in and fired a backhand into the net behind Canuck goaltender Nikita Tolopilo.

Chicago’s lead would not last long, as a minute later Canuck winger Drew O’Connor tied the score at 1-1 beating Arvid Soderblom.

Forward Jake DeBrusk would give the Canucks the lead at 2-1 a few seconds later, tipping home a Zeev Buium’s shot from the point.

Vancouver extended the lead to 3-1 at the 6:32 mark of the opening period Teddy Blueger slid a puck behind Soderblom to give Vancouver three goals on seven shots.

The Blackhawks would answer back at 12:00 with pretty tic-tac-toe play finished by Ilya Mikheyev. The goal, Mikheyev’s 12th of the season, was assisted by Oliver Moore and Tyler Bertuzzi.

With the score 3-2 after one period of action, Nazar tipped a shot from Alex Vlasic from the point that beat Tolopilo to tie the game at 3-3 at the 19:17 mark of the second period.

Boeser scored his first goal of the night early in the third period, on the power play, to give the visitors the one-goal lead. The lead appeared to disappear when Landon Slaggert scored at the 15:00 mark only to have the goal disallowed for a kicking motion to direct the puck into the goal.

Vancouver would take advantage of the disallowed goal and take a two-goal lead at the 18:34 mark of the third period before Boeser scored his second goal of the night into an empty net to give the Canucks a 6-3 victory.

The Blackhawks travel to Texas to take on the Dallas Stars for a 5 p.m. CDT puck drop on Sunday at the American Airline Center.

Analysis

Nazar finding the back of the net and assisting on another is exactly what the slumping sophomore needed. Nazar has been a little snake-bitten this season, shooting at 8.2% for the year and only has eight goals and 19 assists in 46 games played. The 22-year-old has been tasked with more ice time this season at 18:27 and has shown some struggles defensively, which in turn, looks to have spilled over into his offense.

The trade deadline decimated some of the Blackhawks’ older players and it is strictly the youth movement from here on out this season. Bedard is clearly the next player in line and this is his franchise for the foreseeable future. The Hockey News rated Anton Frondell the best prospect in hockey not yet in the NHL. The future is bright and General Manager Kyle Davidson spoke to the media and said they are sticking to their plan. As fans, all we can do is wait…two more seasons before they compete for the playoffs.

The post RECAP: Canucks defeat Blackhawks 6-3 as Boeser scores twice appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks lines in warmups in Vancouver are the same as last game:

Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Teravainen-Nazar-Bertuzzi
Moore-Donato-Mikheyev
Dach-Foligno

Vlasic-Rinzel
Kaiser-Levshunov
Grzelcyk-Murphy
Crevier

Knight

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 6, 2025

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First period

The first period in this game was a relatively uneventful one. The Blackhawks got out-shot by Vancouver 16-11, but generally looked evenly matched. Knight made saves that he needed to make, and everyone else generally did their jobs. Ryan Greene had one of the Blackhawks’ best chances, with former Hawks netminder Kevin Lankinen steering his shot in tight aside. Connor Bedard had a few chances, but was not able to get anything past Lankinen, who kept the puck out on his end as well. The first period would end as it had started, in a 0-0 tie.

1st intermission: Blackhawks 0, Canucks 0

That was a lot more fun than Seattle. Free-flowing hockey with plenty of chances both ways.

Shot attempts: 20-26 VAN
Shots on goal: 11-14 VAN
Scoring chances: 9-15 VAN

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 6, 2025

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Second period

This is where it all kind of fell apart. The Canucks absolutely owned the second period. They got a power play five and a half minutes in and got some high-quality chances. Knight absolutely stood on his head to keep the puck out of the net. It looked like the Canucks might get a gift goal after the officials did not call for goaltender interference when Knight got checked down by Drew O’Connor, but upon a challenge, the call was overturned and they disallowed the goal. Connor Murphy had the Blackhawks’ best chance in front of the net on a feed from Matt Grzelcyk, with Lankinen proving up to the task in stopping that opportunity. The Blackhawks got bested badly by the Canucks in this period as a whole, though, and only were able to keep the puck out thanks to one goalpost and Knight absolutely playing sensational in net.

Chicago challenges for goaltender interference and win it.

I imagine Jeff Blashill would have been unhinged if this call didn’t go their way given how their last challenge against Vancouver went at the United Center. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/FvODywKi7z

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 6, 2025

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Third period

Three minutes into the period, the Blackhawks got their first. Grzelcyk again got the puck along the boards and put it on net. It deflected off of Tyler Bertuzzi in front and into the back of the net, 1-0 Blackhawks. Three and a half minutes later, Bertuzzi set up in his office again at the side of the net. He took a feed from Bedard and put it home again, putting the Blackhawks up 2-0.

Tyler Bertuzzi goal no. pic.twitter.com/qyGCmYusrq

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 6, 2025

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Just under a minute later, after a scramble in front, Ilya Mikheyev found a loose puck in front of the Canuck net and wristed it past Lankinen, making it 3-0 Chicago.

The visitors were not done yet. Louis Crevier got a shot on goal with a lot of traffic in front, with Bertuzzi picking up the rebound. He took his time and wristed his third goal past Lankinen, putting the Blackhawks up 4-0.

AND THAT’S A TYLER BERTUZZI HAT TRICK pic.twitter.com/LVU85kRmJv

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 6, 2025

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The Canucks would pick up two goals quickly to try to get back into the game. Aatu Raty got a wicked wrister over the shoulder of Knight to puck the Canucks on the board, 4-1. Just over a minute later, with the goaltender pulled, Evander Kane got onto the ice and put a one-timer past Knight to make it 4-2. Bedard would pot an empty-netter after that to take care of things once and for all, and the Blackhawks took this one 5-2 in Vancouver.

Analysis

The Blackhawks got a win in what was an incredibly inconsistent game from this team. The second period was all Vancouver, and the only reason they made it through unscathed was because of Knight. He played stellar in net, only letting up two goals late that would have been very tough stops as well. Bertuzzi came alive in the third by planting himself beside the net, which is his best spot, causing traffic and getting in the way of the goalie seeing the puck. It has been a long time since I have watched a game where it got to the third period and exploded with offense all of a sudden. It is good to see the Blackhawks able to come out after a bad period, though, and put something together to take home the win.

The Blackhawks’ next game is on Friday night in Alberta against the Calgary Flames. That game will be at 8 p.m. CST on CHSN.

The post RECAP: Bertuzzi’s hat trick powers Blackhawks past Canucks 5-2 appeared first on The Rink.

Despite Slaggert being active, the Hawks only changed to their lineup was Spencer Knight in at goalie. With Vancouver having played Dallas the night before, the Hawks looked to take advantage of their fatigue early.

First period

Under two minutes into the game, the Blackhawks drew their first penalty of the game. Kiefer Sherwood was called for hooking against Matt Grzelcyk, and the Hawks capitalized with a Ryan Donato tally.

Ryan Donato with a backdoor tap-in on the power play for his second goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/q2hnjHeYQZ

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 18, 2025

Later in the period, Tyler Bertuzzi gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead.

Tyler Bertuzzi cleans up the rebound for his second goal of the season with 46 seconds left in the opening frame. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Hu95gCdTRR

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 18, 2025

The period ended with the Hawks up 2-0.

Second period

The Canucks found their legs in the second period with a power-play goal from Jake DeBrusk and a even-strength goal from Max Sasson. The second period ended tied at 2-2.

Third period

In the third period, Bertuzzi thought he had scored the go-ahead goal with 5:12 left in the third period. Instead the play was reviewed and ruled goalie interference and no goal.

Tyler Bertuzzi had his second of the game but it gets waved off. No clue why pic.twitter.com/lDgKwd4XAH

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 18, 2025

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The game went to overtime.

Overtime/Shootout

In overtime, Knight and Kevin Lankinen both put on impressive shows. Knight had to make the save of the game near the end of overtime.

Great stop by Spencer Knight on Elias Pettersson (#40) to extend the game to a shootout pic.twitter.com/iw00JBvBaX

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 18, 2025

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In the shootout after three rounds, Brock Boeser buried the game-winner for Vancouver.

Analysis

The Hawks played great in the first and third periods with a letdown in period two. Despite the shootout loss, we saw the importance of Knight and Bertuzzi. Knight had one of his best performances as a Hawk, while Bertuzzi was the best Blackhawks player in the game. Both players playing well will help the Hawks to continue to improve this season.

On the defense, a bright spot was Louis Crevier. Crevier had an effective role on the penalty kill, especially with a good poke check. Wyatt Kaiser also had another strong performance.

This Hawks team continues to grow this season and continues to make strides.

The Hawks’ next game is Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks as Joel Quenneville returns to town. The game will start at 6 p.m. CDT.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks fall in a shootout 3-2 to Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

First period

Quinn Hughes got the Canucks on the board early in the first period. This was Hughes’ second game back from injury. Less than a minute later, Tyler Myers added to the Vancouver lead. Soderblom allowed two goals against four shots on goal.

Second period

Conor Garland scored his 17th goal of the season to put Vancouver up 3–0. Alex Vlasic got the Hawks on the board with his fourth goal of the season.

Alex Vlasic puts Chicago on the board with his 4th goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/XdjSItdp2v

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 16, 2025

This was Ryan Donato’s 14th primary assist since Jan. 1. He is tied for fifth in the league during that time.

After two, it was Vancouver up 3–1 over Chicago.

Third period

In the third period, the wheels fell off the Blackhawks’ wagon. Elias Pettersson put the Canucks 4–1 with a goal. The Hawks did respond with a Wyatt Kaiser goal, with Levshunov setting him up for the 19-year-old’s first career point.

Kaiser is such a different player when he’s skating like this. pic.twitter.com/imtIXlY98y

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 16, 2025

Less than four minutes later, Nils Aman put the game out of reach with a goal. Former Blackhawks forward Pius Suter made the final score 6–2.

Analysis

If not for Levshunov’s play tonight, this game would have been bleak. Levshunov played a team high 22:39 of ice time. While he did earn his first NHL point, he was also exposed on two Canucks goals. That is to be expected with the young defenseman as he tries to find his footing in the NHL.

The rest of the Hawks were awful. Soderblom allowed six goals on 15 shots for a .600 save percentage. He was off all night and it showed. Hopefully this is just a blip in his otherwise solid bounce-back season.

It is clear that Bedard is frustrated this season and now it is starting to manifest into penalties. In the last two games, he has drawn two 10-minute misconducts. We will never know what he said because the NHL does allow refs to be interviewed. It might be wise for the Blackhawks to give Bedard a phantom injury for a mental reset.

While Bedard is visibly frustrated, Tyler Bertuzzi is just plan invisible. Bertuzzi has not scored in 20 games. During the Bertuzzi drought, the Hawks have been outscored 16–6 in 5-on-5 play.

Hopefully with an infusion of NCAA players signing and a seven-game home stand, the Hawks can start to build some positive momentum again because right now it is pretty bleak.

The Hawks’ next game is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CDT against the Seattle Kraken.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks pummeled by Vancouver 6–2 appeared first on The Rink.

Before the game, Luke Richardson once again went to the line blender. Richardson healthy scratched Taylor Hall, who he said needed more practice time before playing again. Hall is coming off a season-ending leg injury last year. In his place was former Canucks forward Ilya Mikheyev. Mikheyev played on the second line. The Hawks also called up Louis Crevier in place of the injured Seth Jones. Jones was placed on injured reserve with a right foot injury. There is currently no timeline on his return.

Here were the lines for the game:

Blackhawks’ lines and pairs in warmups:

Kurashev-Bedard-Donato Mikheyev-Foligno-Bertuzzi Teravainen-Dickinson-Anderson Maroon-Reichel-Smith

Allan-Martinez
Vlasic-Murphy
Kaiser-Brodie

Soderblom

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 17, 2024

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First period

In the first period, Richardson looked like a genius, as Mikheyev scored the game’s first goal.

Ilya Mikheyev scores his second goal of the season in his return to Vancouver after being a healthy scratch in consecutive games. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/j2zrBE66VW

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 17, 2024

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The play was started with an impressive outlet pass from Nolan Allan.

The Hawks finished the period up 1–0 and could have been up more. Arturs Silovs stopped two chances from Craig Smith and chances from Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen.

Second period

Vancouver responded in the second period with a power-play goal to tie the game. Elias Pettersson banged it home for his fifth goal of the season. Pettersson’s shot went in the net off Connor Murphy.

The second period ended with the score knotted at 1–1.

Third period

With momentum on their side, the Canucks took over the game. Erik Brannstrom got his second goal of the season as the Hawks failed to clear the zone.

Late in the third, the Hawks pulled Arvid Soderblom to try to force a tie. Sadly, Bedard whiffed on a puck in the neutral zone and the puck was recovered by J.T. Miller. Miller fired the puck in to the seal the Vancouver victory. Teddy Blueger added another empty-netter to make the final 4–1 in favor of Vancouver.

Analysis

The simple truth is that this team stinks. The Blackhawks do not score enough goals to win games. The Hawks have scored six goals in their last five games, losing four of those five. Their lone win against Minnesota, their second goal was scored in overtime.  The team has to get more offensive production from their free-agent signings in Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi.

Connor Bedard

Despite not scoring goals, the Hawks have a bigger problem on their hands. The team needs to figure out a way to get Bedard going on offense. He does not have a goal in nine games and went 0-for-8 at the faceoff dot. Mark Lazerus pointed out that Bedard is not snapping off his shot like last season and is deferring more to veterans like Ryan Donato. Perhaps it is time to move Bedard to the wing. The Hosts of the TNT NHL coverage are suggesting as much. The Hawks need to right the Bedard ship and right it fast.

Luke Richardson

Could Richardson be feeling the heat this season? Some are wondering if that is why he is making questionable lineup decisions. The move to bench Taylor Hall was a head shaker. People have also questioned his benching Donato earlier in the year for Andreas Athanasiou. Athanasiou was sent to Rockford this week after clearing waivers, while Donato now leads the team in goals.

Richardson continued to move players around in hopes of generating some offensive spark.

CHSN update

Lastly, CHSN launched its own app on Friday so more fans can watch the Hawks. While some players have said that the pricing is too high, CHSN President Jason Doyle put the pricing blame on the providers.

As for the app itself, some were still unable to watch the game.

You know what’s AWESOME about @CHSN__ and trying to watch the FIRST #Blackhawks game of the season on their rights holder streaming service?

When you go to start streaming after paying and it says you need to subscribe to watch….

What an absolute disaster…. pic.twitter.com/S6bgKfKD1B

— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) November 17, 2024

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The Hawks continue to be a disaster on and off the ice. The next Hawks game is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CST on CHSN.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks’ woes continue in 4–1 loss to Vancouver appeared first on The Rink.

First period

This one started real rough, real quick. Twenty-one seconds in, Kiefer Sherwood got a steal alongside the boards in the Blackhawks’ zone. He passed it across to Teddy Blueger and then to Danton Heinen, making it 1–0 Canucks. At the 4:39 mark of the frame, Jason Dickinson got called for a trip against J.T. Miller. On the ensuing power play, Quinn Hughes put a shot off the end boards that came out in front to Miller, who quickly made it 2–0 Vancouver.

The Blackhawks would get one back, though, in short order. After a pinch by Alex Vlasic, Dickinson stuck with a play behind the net, feeding it in front to Ryan Donato for his second of the season, 2–1 Vancouver. But, just over a minute later, Heinen would pick up his second on a deflected shot from Filip Hronek at the point, 3–1 Vancouver. The goal debatably should have been disallowed due to an offside from Vancouver upon entering the zone, but after a Blackhawks challenge, the goal was upheld.

We were not done with scoring in the first, though. Taylor Hall came up with a loose puck in between the circles and fired it home for the 700th point of his career, making it 3–2 Canucks.

Taylor Hall rips it home for the 700th point of his career!

: Frozen Frenzy action all night on @espn & @ESPNPlus https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm pic.twitter.com/Rvo7A4zJQd

— NHL (@NHL) October 23, 2024

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Two minutes later, the Canucks got it right back on a Conor Garland rebound opportunity, giving the Canucks back their two-goal lead, again in controversial fashion.

I stand corrected: Vancouver had SEVEN players on the ice prior to scoring their fourth goal. The officials missed it. Chicago’s bench was irate. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/TJpYqXeIiZ

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 23, 2024

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The back-and-forth first would end with Vancouver up 4–2.

Second period

The Blackhawks received two more power play opportunities in the second, but could not convert and could barely get any opportunities to score on these chances. Seth Jones was brutal, with an abundance of turnovers and overall brutal play to keep things where we ended the first, 4–2 Canucks.

Third period

It took halfway through the period this time, but the Blackhawks gave up another power play on a Connor Murphy trip of Elias Pettersson. Brock Boeser got the tip out in front this time, 13 seconds into the power play, making it 5–2. Old friend Pius Suter showed up a few minutes later to increase the lead further, 6–2 Vancouver. The Blackhawks would get one back on a two-man advantage, with Tyler Bertuzzi scoring to make it 6–3. That is how this one would end, with Vancouver taking control the whole way through.

Analysis

The Blackhawks played, to this point, their worst game of the season on Tuesday night. Defense was horrid, special teams may as well have not shown up and Mrazek was hung out to dry several times throughout this very one-sided contest. The top line has to be producing, and with Connor Bedard a -3 on the evening, it is clear that they were not playing their best in this one, either.

Mrazek put up his first stinker of the season, with a .800 save percentage in this one, compared to being over .900 in every other game he has played this season. Vancouver got away with a couple, including having seven skaters on the ice at one point leading up to a goal, but that still would not have made a difference in the end. With some brutal play from Jones, it is clear that he is not the player the Blackhawks’ previous regime thought they were getting when they traded for him, as he has played his worst hockey here in Chicago.

Hall was the lone bright spot, picking up point No. 700 in this one as he looks to work his way back from missing almost all of last season. He looks good so far, as he is playing with confidence and playing smart hockey.

Congrats on 7⃣0⃣0⃣ career points, @hallsy09! pic.twitter.com/ujZXTw3Cp8

— WGN Radio 720 (@WGNRadio) October 23, 2024

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The Blackhawks’ next game is on Friday versus the Nashville Predators. That game will be at 7:30 p.m. CDT.

The post RECAP: Hall hits 700 points as Blackhawks lose 6–3 to Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

The 29-year-old, 6-foot-2-inch, 192-pound Ilya Mikheyev began his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019. He signed a four-year contract with the Canucks on July 13, 2022, which has two years remaining at an average annual value of $4.75 million, but the Canucks retained 15% of that deal, so Chicago is on the hook for $4,037,500 for this coming season and next.

Mikheyev has 131 points (60 goals, 71 assists) in 270 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs and Canucks, and four points (two goals, two assists) in 30 playoff games. He can play both wing positions and can easily slot in the Blackhawks’ top six, while also helping Davidson hit the salary cap floor.

Davidson also picked up a name familiar to Blackhawks fans in acquiring the rights to forward Sam Lafferty. Lafferty had his best NHL season with the Blackhawks in 2022–23, when he put up 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 51 games before he was traded to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 27, 2023, prior to the trade deadline. He is scheduled to become a UFA on July 1, but the Blackhawks have negotiating rights to now sign him ahead of that date. The 29-year-old would be able to fill a bottom-six spot if the Blackhawks are able to sign him.

Lafferty was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth-round (No. 113) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He has 83 points (36 goals, 47 assists) in 289 regular-season games and three points (one goal, two assists) in 21 playoff games with the Penguins, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs and Canucks.

Analysis

Davidson continues to weaponize his salary cap space and flexibility to take on short-term bloated contracts from teams facing salary cap issues and acquiring additional assets along the way. Mikheyev and Lafferty are fine depth players who can fill out the roster this season as the Blackhawks continue to draft and develop a young core around last season’s prized draft pick Connor Bedard. The fact that Davidson was able to get Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin to eat 15% of Mikheyev’s salary is a master-class move.

This is some voodoo magic shit. You turn an essentially worthless 4th into a 2nd, a possible top 6 roster player and potentially another who had success here. Also helps you get to the floor for 2 seasons. #Blackhawks https://t.co/IeHQLGRwK5

— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile.bsky.social) (@PuckinHostile) June 27, 2024

This move opens up all kinds of possibilities for the Blackhawks. If Mikheyev can re-ignite his career, after knee surgery, he could be a trade deadline flip candidate this year or next. Davidson could eat a portion of his salary and make Mikheyev a reasonably cheap depth acquisition for a contender. If they keep him for the next two seasons, given he has fully recovers from said knee surgery, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has a flexible veteran forward to add to an already experienced group of mentors with Nick Foligno, Taylor Hall, Andreas Athanasiou, Ryan Donato, Jason Dickinson, Seth Jones and Connor Murphy.

Lafferty could give the Blackhawks an opportunity to do something that you often hear from fans: Bring back a fan favorite. If Davidson can re-sign him, Lafferty could also be a trade deadline flip once again. His rights could also be traded at the draft for another asset or as part of another deal as well. The Blackhawks are scheduled to make eight picks in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft this weekend.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Mikheyev, Lafferty and draft pick from Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

After a shining 6–2 win over the Calgary Flames, the team was undoubtedly exhausted, and the absence of four impactful forwards immediately became noticeable against the Vancouver Canucks.

This game was the key to claiming the first-place seat in the Central Division, but the performance from the Avalanche was not living up to the standard set against the Flames.

Of course, this game was bound to be a hard-fought battle. For most of the season, Vancouver has been in the top three teams in the league. They are ten points ahead of the second-place team in the Pacific Division, the Edmonton Oilers.

The good

Josh Manson dropped the gloves against Nikita Zodorov in the second period. While he picked up a five-minute penalty for fighting, it was the first burst of energy from Colorado in the game.

Mikko Rantanen finally put the Avalanche on the board with less than three seconds to go in the second period, and the goal held the potential to start an unstoppable force in the final frame.

Moose moves.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/TjNOIOTXQn

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 14, 2024

Luckily for Colorado, the third period resembled the team seen in the previous four games. Nathan MacKinnon brought the game within one after taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play.

A Mack-cannon kind of goal.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/WaXCKTHQ1Y

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 14, 2024

The tenacity of Rantanen and MacKinnon paved the way for Ross Colton to net his fourteenth goal of the season to tie the game.

Another look at Rosco's goal!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/d8cOHVYUaY

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 14, 2024

In the third period alone, the Avalanche recorded 16 shots on goal, far outshining the Canucks’ three.

A late power play gave Colorado the man advantage in overtime. MacKinnon got the job done at the 30 second mark, assisted by Valeri Nichushkin’s visor.

Chu Chu concludes OT with a deflection off the…visor?!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/K9foEbrd6A

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 14, 2024

The Avalanche are notorious for impossible comebacks, the most notable being against the Dallas Stars with a six-goal comeback on Nov. 18, 2023.

The bad

The Canucks wasted no time lighting the lamp and took an early lead, only 24 seconds into the first frame.

MILESTONE MILLER
NEW CAREER HIGH – 33RD OF THE SEASON! pic.twitter.com/gTsAROCgSW

— X – Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 14, 2024

With the tone set, it was hard to slow their momentum. Vancouver scored another goal at the two-minute mark. Both goals were unfortunate tip-ins, but the Avalanche quickly spiraled into a deficit difficult to get out of.

MILLER MIKHEYEV pic.twitter.com/cb47PgryA9

— X – Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 14, 2024

Though much of the struggle was not just a lack of offensive pressure, but the Canucks left every ounce of defensive effort on the ice.

Going forward, Colorado cannot afford to leave their effort for the last period of the game. While there is an impressive track record for unforeseen comebacks, playoff games will not allow for any mistakes.

What’s next?

The Avalanche have 15 games to secure their spot in the Central Division, and it will be no easy task. The Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars are also fighting for first place, and all three teams are within 4 points of each other.

Next on the schedule is the Edmonton Oilers, who the Avalanche have yet to face this season. The Oilers had a slow start to the season but are now securely in second place in the Pacific Division, leading the Los Angeles Kings by four points.

The post Avalanche comeback win claims first place in Central Division appeared first on The Rink.

Despite finding a 4–3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday, the team is still facing a slump. Cale Makar hasn’t netted a goal since the beginning of February against the New Jersey Devils.

Prior to the game, Colorado held onto the second place slot in the Central Division standings. The Dallas Stars claimed the top spot, four points ahead of the Avalanche.

Though the team wouldn’t move up in the standings, they would find a three-point buffer between the Winnipeg Jets and themselves.

First period

The Vancouver Canucks suffered a 10–7 loss against the Minnesota Wild yesterday, undoubtedly leaving the team tired.

Still, it didn’t matter. The Avalanche came out of the gate, attacking the net with everything they had. Even though the team looked sharp and engaged, it would be the Canucks who scored first and brought any momentum to a screeching halt.

J.T. Miller fired a routine shot at the net and got past Alexandar Georgiev just after the halfway mark. Thatcher Demko kept Colorado off the scorecard and held onto their lead into the second period.

Both teams left the period with seven shots on goal.

Second period

Once again, the home team came out of the gate explosive and engaged.

Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews, and Makar all swarmed Demko, hoping at least one of them could break through his goaltending. While all tried to create an opening, it would be Ryan Johansen who would even the score only three minutes into the period.

No. 12 gets us on the board!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/EeBdd6u2hE

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 21, 2024

Recently, Johansen has been struggling. His last goal was against the St. Louis Blues on December 29, 2023.

With the score tied at one, both teams would lock in a battle for the lead during the remaining 17 minutes of the period.

The Avalanche outshot their opponent by one for the period.

Third period

Maybe it was the newfound confidence after breaking a 20-game scoring drought, but Johansen once again found an opportunity to score and took it. His shot went over the shoulder of Demko, bringing Colorado ahead by one.

RyJo with the go-ahead goal!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/GseX2rQTCw

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 21, 2024

After taking the lead, the team seemed to hit their groove. Georgiev survived two attacks, making two different series of saves to keep the Avalanche afloat.

Not in Georgie's jungle #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/HXCQedbyGe

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 21, 2024

The Canucks desperately tried to regain control, yet fell short. Artturi Lehkonen sealed the deal with an empty net goal with only 40 seconds left. MacKinnon picked up the assist, marking a 27-game home point streak.

Nate's home point-streak extended
Insurance goal #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/YNPjAqBlFc

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 21, 2024

The team ultimately gains two points with a 3–1 victory at home and now trails the Dallas Stars by two points.

Takeaways

With the trade deadline getting closer and closer, the Avalanche have undoubtedly been looking at additions. To acquire a perfect fit for a Stanley Cup run, there has been a lot of discussion about who will make the final cut.

Prior to the return from a humiliating road trip, Johansen looked like he wouldn’t be in the running to make the final roster. After tonight’s performance, if the positive trend continues, the Avalanche might look for other ways to strengthen their roster.

The Avalanche will hit the road to Detroit on Thursday and face off against former teammate J.T. Compher.

The post Johansen helps Avalanche get back on track appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The Canucks got on the board first at 10:05 of the first period. Filip Hronek intercepted an Alex Vlasic pass in the neutral zone and then fed Conor Garland, who skated in 2-on-1 with Dakota Joshua, who took the pass and fed it back to Garland, who tapped it in the open net for his 10th of the season. The Canucks would take a 1–0 into the locker room as they dominated the first period, including a 12–2 shot advantage, with the Hawks’ two shots coming in the final 30 seconds while on the power play.

Second period

Midway through the second frame, Garland scored his second of the game and 11th of the season at the 8:18 mark to give Vancouver a 2–0 lead. Hronek took the puck at the point and his shot was going wide but hit Garland’s skate on the way in and trickled past Mrazek for the goal.

Tyler Johnson cut the Hawks’ deficit to 2–1 with his 10th of the season at 16:43 on the power play. Nick Foligno picked off a Vancouver clearing attempt and skated toward the half boards, dished it to Philipp Kurashev along the goal line, who fed a wide-open Johnson in front, who buried a one-timer past Demko.

TJ on the power play pic.twitter.com/MeV3HRQ9sd

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 14, 2024

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Vancouver regained its two-goal lead at 18:28 when Nils Hoglander scored his 17th of the season. Elias Lindholm retrieved his own dump-in off the boards and found Hoglander, who skated in front and beat Mrazek from in tight to give the Canucks a 3–1 lead, which they took into the locker room after 40 minutes.

Third period

At 6:07 of the third, Joshua scored his 13th of the season to give the Canucks a 4–1 lead. From the half boards, Teddy Blueger fed Joshua in the slot and he deked Mrazek and scored on the backhand for his third point of the game.

Kevin Korchinski cut the gap to 4–2 with his third of the season at 13:27 of the third. Lukas Reichel won a board battle against Quinn Hughes in the neutral zone and fed Ryan Donato, who skated in 2-on-1 with Korchinski. Donato backhanded a feed to Korchinski, who sniped one past Demko.

hello kevin score-chinski pic.twitter.com/HUa14NS8qw

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 14, 2024

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Analysis

When the team with the best record plays their A game against the team with the worst record, this is essentially what happens, and of course, it is no surprise. The Hawks were thoroughly outclassed by the deeper and more skilled Canucks, led by its third line of Blueger, Garland and Joshua, which skated circles around Hawks’ defenders. If you are looking for a positive for the Hawks, Johnson had a strong game and was one of few Blackhawks players to generate any consistent chances beyond the goal he scored.

The Blackhawks return to the United Center on Thursday night to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. CST on NBCSCH and 720 WGN.

The post RECAP: League-leading Canucks overwhelm Hawks 4–2 appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks lines in morning skate vs. Canucks. Reichel and Guttman appear to be scratches.

Foligno-Kurashev-Raddysh
Blackwell-Dickinson-Anderson
Pitlick-Entwistle-Donato
Katchouk-Sanford-RJohnson

Vlasic-Jones
Korchinski-Megna
Phillips-Crevier

Mrazek in starter’s crease

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 22, 2024

The biggest newest of the game was the healthy scratch of Lukas Reichel. The young forward continues to struggle this season and it appears that Luke Richardson is done messing around with the youngster.

The Canucks got both their goals in the first period. The first goal was a tap-in by former Blackhawks forward Pius Suter. Andrei Kuzmenko skated into the zone and executed a spin-o-rama pass that hit Suter on the tape. The second goal of the game was scored by Quinn Hughes. Hughes activated in the offensive zone and picked up a loose puck. He went top shelf over the shoulder of Petr Mrazek. The rest of the game was a stalemate with the Blackhawks playing tough hard-nosed hockey, but did not have any goals to show for their style of play.

The Hawks fell in their 17th straight road game, losing 2–0 to Vancouver. It was the second shutout loss in a row for the Hawks.

Analysis

The Hawks continue to play hard despite being unable to put the puck in the net. During the Richardson era, his teams always compete hard but are just short on talent. It is not fair to evaluate Richardson based on his win-loss record as a coach. He is currently coaching a team with one arm tied behind its back. His mission this season is develop younger players and instill the hard-nose style of play. He has done a decent job thus far especially if you look at Kevin Korchinski’s play. Korchinski is far from a finished product, but you can tell his game has improved throughout this season.

A big part in the Hawks staying competitive in games has been the play of Mrazek. Mrazek turned in another solid performance despite getting no offensive support and playing behind young and unproven defensemen. Mrazek now has allowed three goals or less in his last five starts. He should be a candidate for a contract extension similar to Jason Dickinson and Nick Foligno. The Blackhawks do not have any current NHL starters in their system without Mrazek. With 32 games under his belt this season, he needs just seven games to surpass last season’s high of 39.

While Alex Vlasic has taken a huge step in his development and has been one of the best Hawks defensemen this season. Other younger defensemen have struggled in their own zone. Louis Crevier and Isaak Phillips are the most recent example of young defensemen struggling. They were on the ice when both goals were scored. While both Creiver and Phillips have shown flashes of NHL talent, there is still much work to be done on the development side with both of these players.

The Blackhawks’ next game is Wednesday night against the Seattle Kraken on TNT at 9 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks blanked by Canucks 2–0 appeared first on The Rink.

The lineup was as follows:

#Blackhawks lineup vs. Canucks:
Reichel-Bedard-Kurashev
Beauvillier-T. Johnson-Raddysh
Foligno-Dickinson-Anderson
Donato-Guttman-R. Johnson

Phillips-Murphy
Kaiser-Crevier
Roos-Zaitsev

Mrazek
Söderblom

Extras: Entwistle, Vlasic (upper body)

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 17, 2023

First period

The Blackhawks looked like the better team early on. They were outshooting Vancouver 12–1 at one point. Midway through the first period, veteran Nick Foligno got the Hawks on the board.

Great pass by Joey Anderson to Nick Foligno, who taps home his fifth goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/RW6O06DhEe

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 17, 2023

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The Hawks led until less than two minutes left in the period when Vancouver answered with a power play goal, as Elias Pettersson scored his 12th goal of the season on a 5-on-3 advantage to tie the game following a crippling block hobbled Connor Murphy.

Second period

Early in the second period, the Blackhawks regained the lead with a power play goal from Foligno.

That’s 2 for 17 pic.twitter.com/WQxbtGkR3Q

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) December 17, 2023

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Foligno potted his second goal of the game and Connor Bedard got his 13th assist of the season. After the second Foligno goal, the game changed in favor of the Canucks. Dakota Joshua scored with just past three minute gone by in the second period. Brock Boesser added a goal less than 40 seconds later.

With the second period nearly over, Ilya Mikheyev netted his 10th goal of season to put the Canucks up 4–2.

Third period

The Hawks tried to rally back from a two-goal deficit, getting a power play goal from Cole Guttman. Guttman was assisted by Bedard and Philipp Kurashev for their second points of the game.

bedsy guttman pic.twitter.com/Iyv5MEiAbS

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 17, 2023

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Petr Mrazek kept the Hawks’ hopes alive with a spectacular diving stick save, one that will surely be a save-of-the-year candidate for the Hawks.

this save pic.twitter.com/w0tkxDlNY8

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 17, 2023

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Sadly, the comeback attempt fell short, as the Blackhawks lost 4–3.

Analysis

The Blackhawks entered this game shorthanded on defense and it showed. Without Jones and Vlasic, the defense relied on youth and inexperience, which contributed to the loss. The recently recalled Wyatt Kaiser finished with a -1 rating and has a welt on his midsection from a blocked shot. Isaak Phillips and Louis Crevier were also in the minus for the game. The Blackhawks were lucky that did not have to play with five defenseman, as Murphy took a shot off his knee in the first period prior to the Peterson tally.

The positives in the game were the third line and the power play. The productive line of Foligno, Jason Dickinson and Joey Anderson continued to produce good shifts and was able to score a goal. The team will know on Monday the extent of Anderson’s injury. If Anderson is hurt for an extended period of time, Boris Katchouk would likely be first in line to be recalled from Rockford.

The power play netted two goals today, with Bedard and Kurashev being involved with both goals.

Another encouraging element was the play of Lukas Reichel. After being largely invisible so far this season, Reichel played with some intensity today, and it showed. Hopefully Reichel is able to build off this performance and string together some good games to regain some confidence entering 2024.

As a reminder, this is still the ground floor of the rebuild. This team is very short on talent and has to play a perfect game to have a chance of winning most nights. Despite being outmatched, the team plays hard most nights for head coach Luke Richardson.

The Blackhawks’ next game is Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche at home with a 7:30 p.m. CST puck drop.

The post RECAP: Canucks hold on for 4–3 win over Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

We interrupt the game in progress to inform you.. WE HAVE A TRADE pic.twitter.com/C7qotFudb0

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 29, 2023

Davidson acquired forward 26-year-old Anthony Beauvillier from the Canucks for a future fifth-round draft pick. Beauvillier comes with a cap hit of $4.15 million, which the Blackhawks can easily absorb, and is signed through the end of the 2023–24 season. He was acquired by Vancouver with Aatu Raty and a conditional 2023 first-round pick from the New York Islanders for Bo Horvat.

Beauvillier has played 22 games for the Canucks and has eight points (two goals, six assists). This move is just another Davidson move where he victimized a cap-strapped team by weaponizing his plethora of cap space.

Anthony Beauvillier, acquired by CHI, is a bottom six winger. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/0d6dgnJZBq

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) November 29, 2023

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Anthony Beauvillier appeared first on The Rink.

Offense

The Avalanche offense has not been struggling as of late. They converted on one of their four power play chances (one of them was only nine seconds long), and their puck movement in the zone has been excellent. While on the power play, the passes are on target and quick, making it so players like Nathan MacKinnon can get the shot off right away.

Val Nichushkin with goals in five straight games. What a feed by Mikko Rantanen. #GoAvsGo tie it up on the power play and have power-play goals in five straight games. pic.twitter.com/PpYA0fHh5R

— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) November 23, 2023

Depth scoring

Once again, the Avalanche did not have to depend on players like MacKinnon or Mikko Rantanen in order to do the scoring. Valeri Nichushkin scored a goal for the fifth game in a row. Miles Wood also earned his third assist in four games and started becoming more offensively minded. Jonathan Drouin buried his second goal of the season and Riley Tufte scored his first in an Avalanche sweater.

Miles Wood's shot from the point goes off Riley Tufte's leg and sneaks past Demko. #GoAvsGo jump back in front, 3-2 pic.twitter.com/XgShYwtV7a

— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) November 23, 2023

Makar-Hughes showdown

The argument outside of Colorado is that Hughes is better than Makar. We all know better and Wednesday night helped prove the point. Makar had a breakaway goal and an assist to Hughes’ single assist. Makar was also +3 to Hughes’ -1. Not to mention, Makar has also won the Norris Trophy for best defenseman of the year.

All. Hail. Cale. #GoAvsGo needed that one after going nearly six minutes without a shot on goal. 4-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/h6KmXMq3vC

— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) November 23, 2023

Defense

The issue for the Avalanche was their defense. Samuel Girard missed the game because of personal reasons, so Caleb Jones stepped up. The defense had issues rushing the puck out of the zone, leading to extended shifts in their own zone. Vancouver’s first goal directly resulted from this and then the Canucks sent it directly on net for a rebound. In the second period, Josh Manson tried to avoid a crosscheck from Brock Boeser and Manson hit him in the face. The officials reviewed the penalty and called Manson for a five-minute major and a game misconduct, resulting in automatic ejection.

Josh Manson assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty for this play. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/YakEFAaLeb

— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) November 23, 2023

Analysis

The Avalanche played a whole 60 minutes last night and that matters most. After the debacle in Nashville, they realized they can never relax. A fast-paced game to start slowed to a trickle because of penalties in the second, but Colorado could manage it. Makar won this round against Hughes and the Avalanche will go into Minnesota flying high off the 5–2 win.

The post Avs and Makar win showdown with Canucks and Hughes appeared first on The Rink.

In a game that was probably undesirable to watch by any Blackhawks fan not in the Pacific time zone, the Canucks got goals from Andrei Kuzmenko (38th), Vitali Kravtsov (fourth) and a late empty-net, bank-shot goal from J.T. Miller (30th). Canucks rookie Akito Hirose got his first two NHL points, assisting on the first two Vancouver goals.

Blackhawks starter Alex Stalock played “fine,” but needed more help. Kuzmenko’s goal was a long wrist shot that went through multiple screens, but he had no chance on Kravtsov’s goal, which went off Seth Jones’ stick. Stalock did make an acrobatic, highlight-reel save just prior to Kravtsov’s goal in the second period.

Oh baby, what a save by Alex Stalock. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/SKyPXlUKdA

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 7, 2023

Chicago certainly had solid chances to beat the Vancouver netminder, but Demko was dialed in. Boris Katchouk had a solid power play chance on the doorstep in the first period, another in the second period and a nice spin-o-rama in the third, but was denied all three times. MacKenzie Entwistle also had an open high-danger chance in the first that Demko was all over. Lukas Reichel split the defense in the second period, but rushed his shot and was stopped easily by Demko.

The Blackhawks went 0–3 on the power play, which now has them at 29th in the NHL. Just one conversion has them back in the game.

Tyler Johnson led the Blackhawks with four shots on goal, but also was a -2.

One area where the Blackhawks dominated was the face-off dot. The led 55%–46%, with Jonathan Toews and Jason Dickinson as the big winners at 71% and 58%, respectively. On the other hand, Elias Pettersson only won three of 14 draws.

For those watching the “tank index,” Chicago is currently ranked 30th overall with a .359 points percentage (17 regulation wins, four games remain) ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets (.359, 15 regulation wins, four games remain) and Anaheim Ducks (.359, 13 regulation wins, four games remain). Chicago is third worst in the tie breaker because they have most regulation wins. The Blackhawks are off Friday, but travel just slightly south to Washington state to face the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. Puck drop is 9 p.m. CDT.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — April 6 vs. Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

— The Blackhawks had the best chances the first period, with Jarred Tinordi ringing a shot off of the post from the left circle, beating former Blackhawk netminder Collin Delia but not getting it into the net. The Blackhawks would get the games’ first power play, but would not be able to do anything on the man advantage. It took until the 3:59 mark of the frame with the Blackhawks on the penalty kill for something to happen. Jason Dickinson took the puck in around the net and got it out to the point for Connor Murphy, who wristed a shot past Delia, making the score 1–0 Blackhawks.

— Both teams traded shots throughout the second, with nothing getting past either goaltender, until the final minute of play. The Canucks kept the puck in the Blackhawks’ end for one last chance at the end of the period, and Seth Jones got the puck banked in off of him by Phillip Di Giuseppe to knot things up at 1–1.

— In the third, Dakota Joshua rocked Lukas Reichel off of the puck, which led to a Canucks 2-on-1 break, which ended in an Elias Pettersson goal to put the Canucks up 2–1. He would score again a minute later, with the Canucks converting very quickly on the power play they had received to put them up 3–1. The Blackhawks decided to try to tie things up, pulling Petr Mrazek for the sixth attacker. They were able to get one back, with Reichel cleaning up a loose puck and putting it past Delia, 3–2 Canucks. Brock Boeser would put the finally tally on the board to make it 4–2 Canucks and put this one away.

The Blackhawks are losing, but are looking competitive doing it, showing that they are still trying, despite also wanting to get the best draft pick that they can with the season they have been having. They remain a point up on last place in the NHL, with the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks not in action on Sunday.

The Blackhawks’ next game will be on Tuesday night at home against the Dallas Stars. That game will be at 7:30 p.m. CDT on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — March 26 vs. Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

— Patrick Kane scored the lone goal of the first period, firing a wrist shot from just inside the blue line, beating Delia for a 1–0 lead.

— In the second period, Andrei Kuzmenko would tie the game just over seven minutes into the frame.

— The Hawks would regain the lead when Sam Lafferty’s wrist shot from the far right eluded Delia to make it 2–1.

— Kuzmenko would tie the game with a nifty deflection after a feeble turnover by Seth Jones.

— Dakota Joshua put the Canucks up to stay making it 3–2 just past the halfway marker of the third period.

— Sheldon Dries would add another seconds later and Bo Horvat would ice it with an empty-net goal to seal the 5–2 win.

The Blackhawks are back at it in Alberta on Thursday against the Calgary Flames. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. CST.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — Jan. 24 vs. Vancouver Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

Seattle Head Coach Dave Hakstol gave the start in goal to Chris Driedger with back-to-back games against the Canucks and New York Islanders.

Driedger barely had time to scrape up his crease before the Canucks took a 1–0 lead on a goal from Tyler Motte. The Kraken came back three minutes later and tied the game on a goal by Seattle’s leading goal scorer (and former Canuck) Jared McCann. Not only was McCann facing the team that drafted him, but he was also playing in his 400th NHL game.

in his 400th game – playing against the team that drafted him – and canner finds the back of the net.

we’re here for this. pic.twitter.com/yVQihGLKpd

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) February 22, 2022

Seattle wrapped up a successful first period with a shorthanded goal by captain Mark Giordano with 5:34 remaining. The Kraken were outshot 15–9, though, but Driedger found his footing.

If the first period was classified as a success, the second could certainly be labeled a failure. Vancouver outshot the Kraken 18–4 and added goals by Travis Hamonic and Vasily Podkolzin to give the home team a 3–2 lead heading into the second intermission.

The third period did not fare much better for the Kraken, as Vancouver forward Bo Horvat scored a power play goal 35 seconds into the period and Tanner Pearson scored an empty-net goal with just over 1:30 remaining in regulation. The Kraken did manage to attempt a comeback by outshooting Vancouver 14–13, but it was far too little and far too late once again for the expansion team.

Anchor points

Driedger played good enough (41 saves) to keep the Kraken in the game, but when four goals against is a “good game,” there is a lot going wrong in other areas. He mentioned in his postgame media availability that he would have liked the fourth goal back, but even without that goal, the Kraken still lose the game.

Penalty kills were good and power plays were bad. That is a quick assessment of what happened out on that ice regarding special teams. The teams were a combined 1-for-8 with the man advantage and Seattle scored one of their goals while shorthanded.

Giordano, McCann, Vince Dunn, Jordan Eberle and Morgan Geekie were the only players that were not under water 5-on-5. The line of Ryan Donato, Joonas Donskoi and Alexander Wennberg were just crushed all night, giving up 12 shots while generating only one. On the other hand, the line of Eberle, Geekie and McCann played only 1:40 together, but had a remarkable 8–0 Corsi advantage.

As one might expect from a 5–2 loss where you are outshot 46–27, the possession heavily favored Vancouver.

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 58%–42%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 65%–35%
5-on-5 High-danger chances for 69%–31%
5-on-5 Expected goals for 72%–28%
Face-off percentage 52%–48%

Seattle will host the New York Islanders tonight at Climate Pledge Arena. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Kraken lose in Vancouver, end Canadian road trip 0–3 appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The first period was all Vancouver. The Blackhawks started the period like they thought it was at 7 p.m. start instead of 6:30 p.m. Vancouver pushed the pace of the period and peppered Marc-Andre Fleury with 11 shots. Fleury stopped all but one shot from Alex Chiasson with eight minutes left in the period.

The Blackhawks did get some offense going late in the first period with some good chances on their power play. Outside of the power play, the most noticeable Blackhawks forward was Sam Lafferty. Lafferty has shown great speed in his brief time with the Blackhawks.

Second period

In the second period, the Hawks were outplayed by the Canucks once again. Their offense could not sustain any pressure in the Canucks’ zone. It was way too much one and done from the Hawks; even their best offensive shift was a one and done: A tic-tac-toe passing play from Patrick Kane to a shot attempt from Dylan Strome.

The Blackhawks were on the defense for the majority of the period. In their own zone, their zone exits were sloppy and there were several defensive turnovers leading to A+ chances for Vancouver.  The lone bright spot on defense was Fleury. Despite being under siege for most of the period, Fleury managed to fend off nine of 10 shots from Vancouver. The Canucks broke through again in the second period with a goal from Brock Besser to extend their lead to two goals.

The second period ended with the Blackhawks trailing by two goals.

Third period

In the third period, the Canucks continued to hold a two-goal lead until Kane tried to will his team back into this game. Kirby Dach stole the puck behind the goal line and fed Kane. Kane fired a pass across the ice to Connor Murphy for the slapshot goal. Murphy’s goal got the Hawks back into the game and energized the sparse Blackhawks crowd.

The Hawks then sealed their own fate with a too many men on the ice penalty with under two minutes to go in the third period. After the costly late penalty, the Blackhawks were not able to come back in this game. Luke Schenn of Vancouver sealed it with a long empty-net goal.

When the final horn sounded, the Blackhawks had fallen to Vancouver 3–1.

Analysis

Monday was a complete disaster for the Blackhawks. The effort in this contest was not good enough to compete at the NHL level. Without Fleury in net in this game, the Blackhawks would have been blown out. After the game, Alex DeBrincat said that the team was flat.

Kirby Dach

Dach continues to struggle on the ice. In the midst of a 2-on-1 opportunity, Philipp Kurashev feathered a pass to Dach for a one-time attempt. Dach whiffed on the shot, as his struggles continued. Dach did win a board battle that led to the Murphy goal, which was a positive. Interim Head Coach Derek King liked Dach’s game against the Canucks.

Marc-Andre Fleury

When the Blackhawks eventually trade Fleury, this team is going to be in big trouble. Fleury has played in 11 of the team’s last 12 games with no end in sight. Despite the high workload, he was masterful again, allowing two goals on 32 shots on goal.

Defensive turnovers

The Blackhawks blocked a season-high 26 shots on the evening. One of the contributing factors to the shot blocks was the team’s inability to clear the zone cleanly and ghastly defensive turnovers. Jake McCabe could not clear the zone, which lead to the first goal of the game. Caleb Jones committed several defensive zone turnovers leading to a few A+ chances.

The Blackhawks will finish up their schedule before the all-star break with an 8:30 p.m. CST start against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.

The post Vancouver cruises past Blackhawks 3–1 appeared first on The Rink.

As far as the COVID-19 protocol went for this game, Vancouver was without forward Brock Boeser, while Seattle was without defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.

From the drop of the puck, Seattle did not seem to have the steam behind them to take out the visiting Canucks. They managed only six shots on goal in the opening frame against Vancouver netminder Thatcher Demko while surrendering 14 shots. Young emerging forwards Vasily Podkolzin and Nils Hoglander gave Vancouver a comfortable 2–0 lead, which had the Canucks sitting pretty heading into the first intermission.

Seattle cut the lead to just one goal in the second period, as Calle Jarnkrok scored on a seeing-eye shot from downtown. This resulted in the only goal of the period, as the Kraken held the Canucks to only eight shots on Philipp Grubauer while sending nine shots the way of Demko. A one-goal game heading into the third period of a division game seemed promising, but Seattle watched their hopes slip away.

Tyler Motte gave Vancouver all the goals they would need just under five minutes into the third period, while Conor Garland and Tanner Pearson (empty-net goal) added a couple of insurance goals to pad the lead. Seattle did not get held scoreless in the final 20 minutes, though. Defenseman William Borgen made up for an earlier gaffe on Podkolzin’s goal by scoring his first of the season and of his career.

borgy lights the lamp for the first time! pic.twitter.com/ejboyuEY7y

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 2, 2022

Sadly, that was all the excitement the team could provide for their home fans. When the final horn sounded, the Canucks were 5–2 winners despite being outshot 26–21 in the second and third periods.

Anchor points

Grubauer did not get much help from his teammates, at all. The Podkolzin, Motte and Garland goals were all egregious turnovers by his defenders. You cannot really place this loss on the goaltender.

There were just four total power plays in this game, and Vancouver had the only power play goal.

This turned out to be the tale of the top six vs. the bottom six. The lines of Jordan Eberle, Morgan Geekie and Jared McCann and Ryan Donato, Joonas Donskoi and Alex Wennberg were comfortably over the 50% mark in possession, but the Jarnkrok, Colin Blackwell and Yanni Gourde and Marcus Johansson, Max McCormick and Riley Sheahan lines were both under 35% 5-on-5.

With only one high danger chance all night at full strength, you are fighting an uphill battle.

Digging a little deeper into the possession metrics, Vancouver limited the Kraken to almost entirely perimeter shots

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 54%–46%
5-on-5 Fenwick (unblocked shot attempts) 51%–49%
5-on-5 High-danger chances For 89%–11%
5-on-5 Expected goals for 64%–36%
Face-off percentage 51%–49%

The Kraken will be off until Thursday, when they are supposed to face the Ottawa Senators. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST. Tuesday’s scheduled game against the New York Islanders and Saturday’s scheduled game against the Winnipeg Jets have been postponed until a later date.  

Take some time out of your day to watch this segment about a Seattle Kraken fan who helped save the life of the Canucks’ equipment manager. It is a really nice feel-good story for the new year.

On 10/23 #SeaKraken fan Nadia Popovici urgently banged on the glass to alert @Canucks Asst. Equipment Manager Brian Hamilton of an abnormal mole that turned out to be life-threatening.

Today, they reunited for the first time since she saved his life → https://t.co/ueSuAwoz6s pic.twitter.com/zd8d8Rn7PU

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 2, 2022

The post RECAP: Canucks extend Kraken losing streak to five appeared first on The Rink.

I have three plays tonight to get our weekend started.

(Odds courtesy of BetRivers)

Pittsburg Penguins @ Washington Capitals -148

O/U: 5.5 -117

My pick: First period under 1.5 -104.  Both teams are on three days rest coming into tonight’s tilt at our nation’s capital. However, I like both defensive groups and goaltending. I think this will be a low-scoring game.

Winnipeg Jets @ Vancouver Canucks -137

O/U: 5.5 -118

My pick: Over 5.5. The Winnipeg Jets travel to Vancouver tonight after playing last night in Seattle. As for the Vancouver Canucks, their organization is going through a lot of change. As for their on-ice play, they are in the top 10 in most goals allowed this season. Meanwhile, the Jets sit in the top half of the league in goals. Play the stats here and take the over. I would even think about putting a little cash on Jets’ money line at +118.

Philadelphia Flyers @ Vegas Golden Knights -240

O/U: 6 -118

My pick: Vegas team total over 3.5 -130. The Philadelphia Flyers are another team seeing a change in the coach behind the bench. They have lost 10 in a row and I do not see them breaking that tonight in Vegas. Opponents have scored four or more in eight of Philadelphia’s last 10 games. This should be a nice handout for us.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter, @ThomasGibbons_3, for my bonus play at 5 p.m. CST.

Happy gambling, and remember, always ride the Tommy Train.

Basics of hockey betting Money line — Winning team Puck line — Team wins by at least two goals (-1.5 when placing a bet) Three-way line — Team wins in regulation  Over/under — Total goals scored during a game including overtime but not a shootout  Parlay — A combination of two or more bets

The information contained on this website is for entertainment purposes only. Please confirm any wagering regulations in your jurisdiction, as they vary from state to state, province to province and country to country. Using this information to contravene any law or statute is prohibited. The Rink is not associated with or endorsed by any professional league, association or team.

The post Tommy’s Puckline Picks — Dec. 10, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

In net for the Blackhawks was the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Marc-Andre Fleury, who entered the night coming off a win against the Seattle Kraken earlier in the week. In this game, Fleury and Thatcher Demko put on a show in the net.

First period

In the first period, the Blackhawks shot themselves in the foot early with Connor Murphy tripping Conor Garland 45 seconds into the game. The period was dominated by the play of Fleury, who stopped 15 Canuck shots while the Blackhawks only mustered six on the net. Both teams had two power plays each and both teams failed to score.

Riley Stillman would leave the game with an apparent leg injury and did not return.

Second period

In the second, the Hawks played one of their worst periods in the Derek King era. Fleury stood on his head in net, turning away another 15 shots by the Canucks, including two consecutive high-danger chances while prone. Fleury and Blackhawks also got a lot of help from their friendly neighborhood goal posts.

Third period

After being outshot 30–12 in two periods, the visitors finally broke through, as Brandon Hagel deflected an Erik Gustafsson shot from the point to score the game’s only goal. That was the only blemish on Demko’s night, as he had 23 saves on 24 shots.

Fleury made 10 more saves to finish the night with 40 saves for the shutout and win. Fleury has owned the Canucks throughout his career. Coming into Sunday, in his last 15 starts against the Canucks, Fleury is 13–0–2. Fleury’s performance on Sunday was the 68th white wash of his esteemed career.

Derek King effect

It is obvious to anyone following the Blackhawks that Interim Head Coach Derek King has had a profound impact on this team. Since the coaching change, Fleury is 4–0–0 with a .964 save percentage. In addition to Fleury’s stellar play, the atmosphere around the team has changed.

Derek King on the Blackhawks:

“They’re gradually getting out of that sense of, when things go wrong, that it’s depressing.

Now its, ‘Things go wrong, we’re OK, hold the fort and we’ll get out of it.’ That’s that confidence coming back.”

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 22, 2021

King was very candid after the game, saying that the Hawks played one of the worst periods under him in the second period and rebounded with one of their best periods under him in the third period.

The Blackhawks finish their road trip against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday with an 8 p.m. CST puck drop

The post Fleury stands tall in shutout of Vancouver appeared first on The Rink.

I really like the board today and got three picks for you all tonight. Grab your complimentary Lay’s Barbeque Chips and hop on board the Tommy Train!

(Odds courtesy of BetRivers)

Vegas Golden Knights (+155) @ Colorado Avalanche (-182)

O/U: 6 -105

My pick: Avalanche puck line -1.5 +138. The Vegas Golden Knights are in rough shape injury-wise. Until they get healthy, their lineup is going to struggle, especially against superior opponents. Let’s ride the Colorado Avalanche at home with great value on the puck line. You have to wonder if this game could get out of hand.

Tampa Bay Lightning (-127) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (+108)

O/U: 5.5 -120

My pick: Over. On paper, this matchup screams take the Tampa Bay Lightning money line, puck line, any way you can. However, this beat-up Pittsburgh Penguins team beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7–1 the other night with a roster depleted by injury. Anything can happen any given night in the NHL. That example is one reason I will take stay away from a side here and take the total. Both teams are giving up a lot of shots. I was a bit shocked I was able to get this at 5.5. Let’s ride it!

Minnesota Wild ( -124) @ Vancouver Canucks (+108)

O/U: 5.5 -122

My pick: Canucks ML. I really like the Vancouver Canucks tonight. They have won two games in a row, on the road, and are coming back to their barn in what should be a good game. Thatcher Demko will handle the netminder duties for the home squad. If you want to add a prop for this game to make it interesting, Connor Garland is +285 to score a goal. He has a point in every game this season and three goals in his last four games.

Happy gambling and remember, always ride the Tommy Train.

Basics of hockey betting Money line — Winning team Puck line — Team wins by at least two goals (-1.5 when placing a bet) Three-way line — Team wins in regulation  Over/under — Total goals scored during a game including overtime but not a shootout  Parlay — A combination of two or more bets

The information contained on this website is for entertainment purposes only. Please confirm any wagering regulations in your jurisdiction, as they vary from state to state, province to province and country to country. Using this information to contravene any law or statute is prohibited. The Rink is not associated with or endorsed by any professional league, association or team.

The post Tommy’s Puckline Picks — Oct. 26, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

The first period was relatively entertaining, and both goaltenders played well. Philipp Grubauer stopped all nine shots he faced, while Thatcher Demko stopped 11 of the 12 he faced. Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn waited until the final five seconds of the period to not only start the scoring but put his name in the record books as the first player (for either team) to score in Climate Pledge arena.

For one of the few times this season, the Kraken outplayed their opponent to begin the game.

Things began looking up, as the Kraken outplayed the Canucks in the second period, as well. Unfortunately for the home crowd, the Canucks tied the game shortly after the halfway point of the second period. Bo Horvat snapped the puck past Grubauer following a Mark Giordano turnover. This would take teams into the intermission tied at one goal.

The third period became the “tale of two periods”. Mark Giordano made amends for his gaffe in the second period by putting the Kraken up 2–1, five minutes into the final period.

This began to turn sour once the game reached the second half of the third period. The problems started when Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy took a penalty for tripping Canucks forward Juho Lammikko. On the resulting powerplay, Horvat shoveled a Quinn Hughes rebound into a wide-open net to tie the game.

Three minutes later, Connor Garland jumped on a missed Vince Dunn keep-in and raced in on Grubauer. Garland faked a shot, which froze Grubauer long enough to expose his five-hole. The Canucks agitator made no mistake, as Grubauer knew he was beaten. This would turn out to be the game-winner, with Justin Dowling scoring an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Anchor points

 Grubauer (.880 sv%) played better than most of his previous games, but he had Garland at a bad angle and still got beaten. Demko, on the other hand, finished with a .935 sv%.

  The Kraken got stomped at the faceoff dot, losing 61% of their total faceoffs.

 As odd as it may seem, the Kraken possession numbers were really good in the second period (74.07% 5-on-5 Corsi) and rather terrible in the first (36.67% 5-on-5 Corsi) and third (44.74% 5-on-5 Corsi) periods. The Kraken out-chanced the Canucks in high-danger opportunities 11–2.

 After starting the season on a complete rampage, Brandon Tanev was one of the worst players on the ice, statistically. His 5-on-5 percentages (Corsi and Fenwick) were both under 35%.

 The Kraken are off today and tomorrow and host the Montreal Canadiens at Climate Pledge Arena, Tuesday evening. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT. 

The post RECAP: Kraken lose home opener to rival Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

“It’s always there,” Colliton said in the presser. “There was pressure from the first day I got here. It’s up to us and it’s up to me to find a new way to give these guys what they need to perform at their highest level.”

In Chicago’s 0–4–1 start, the team’s worst start in 20 years, the team has yet to have a lead in 300:57 minutes played. This would not be as alarming if the Blackhawks’ second-longest streak was last season (226:06 minutes), but something is not working, and it has been prevalent for more than five early games this season. There is something in Colliton’s “system” that has been failing for more than this early season start.

Chicago has been outscored 21–9 this season and has only mustered three even-strength goals. A team that was horrible at 5-on-5 play last season, the Blackhawks rarely generate any sustained pressure in the offensive zone, have zero puck possession (or any cycling for that matter) and have a poor net-front presence. On most occasions, Chicago has one shot one goal and is out of the offensive zone in the blink of an eye. The New York Islanders took advantage of Chicago’s lack of size and did an excellent job of boxing out the Blackhawks from any rebounds on Tuesday. Vancouver was just as successful Thursday.

The most frightening quality in Chicago’s play is the lack of desperation. Outside of a quick start in the home opener against the Islanders, Chicago has looked methodical, slow to react and out-classed for the majority of this young season. If the top-level players are not producing, this team does not have the secondary fire power to get things done on the scoresheet. The roster structure (a completely different problem) does not give Colliton a ton of options outside of a select few.

To summarize Thursday’s game: Colliton allowed Dylan Strome to play after watching four games in the press box. Alex DeBrincat scored his second goal of the season to tie the game 1–1 at the 8:26 mark in the first period. Patrick Kane and Seth Jones assisted on the goal. Vancouver would outscore Chicago 3–0 the rest of the way en route to a 4–1 victory for the visitors.

Chicago led 30–25 in shots.

The good

— Patrick Kane celebrated his 1,000th career game with his family by his side after hitting the milestone last season. Kane had wanted to wait for a formal celebration until fans were able to return to the United Center.

— Alex DeBrincat continues to show he can be a force with the puck on his stick.

The bad

— Coming back after missing last season, Jonathan Toews has zero points to start the season. He mentioned after the home opener at the post-game presser that his conditioning needs to get better. It is tough to watch the Captain struggle after all he has done for this organization. It would be great to see him get it going.

— Chicago’s 0–4–1 record is the worst start in 20 years.

— The lack of urgency. To say the first five games of the season have been poor would be a disservice to how poor the play has been for three seasons.

— General Manager Stan Bowman is the mastermind behind this organization.

The Blackhawks will look for their first win of the season when they return to the ice on Sunday, hosting the Detroit Red Wings for a 6 p.m. CDT puck drop.

The post Hawks fall to Canucks 4–1, pressure turned up on Colliton appeared first on The Rink.

I have become more invested in sports gambling over the past year or so. How invested, you may ask? Last week, I was refreshing the box score to a KHL game in my Uber on my way home from a night out with friends. I love the entertainment and the opportunity to earn some spending money. 

Basics of hockey betting

Money line — Winning team 

Puck line — Team wins by at least two goals (-1.5 when placing a bet)

Three-way line — Team wins in regulation 

Over/under — Total goals scored during a game including overtime but not a shootout 

Parlay — A combination of two or more bets 

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the defending champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in extravagant fashion, 6–2. The Penguins were the underdogs, and playing their money line at plus odds would have been a sweet win. The over also hit (5.5). For the nightcap, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken by a score of 4–3. That over (5.5) also hit, however, the Golden Knights, the favorite, did not cover the puck line by only winning by one goal. 

Tonight, we have five games on the slate. Let’s dive into my picks.

(All odds courtesy of BetRivers IL)

Montreal Canadiens (+160) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (-186)

O/U: 6

In terms of how I make my picks, everyone has their strategy. For me, it is a mix of gut and research. 

Both teams are missing arguably their best players tonight in Carey Price for the Montreal Canadiens and Auston Matthews for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens are also without defensemen Shea Weber for the entire year and Joel Edmundson will miss the start of the regular season. Forwards Paul Byron and Mike Hoffman are also on long-term injured reserve. It is a banged-up Canadiens team traveling to Toronto. Mitch Marner is also a game-time decision, but I would expect him to play. 

My pick: Over 6. The Maple Leafs have the firepower on offense even without Matthews in the lineup, and the Canadiens have their own sharpshooters in Cole Caufield and Tyler Toffoli. I think goals come early and often tonight in Toronto. 

New York Rangers (-107) vs. Washington Capitals (-109) 

O/U: 6.5

One thing to note. O/U 6.5 means there must be at least seven goals for the bet to settle as a win. As for the Maple Leafs-Canadiens game, the O/U is set at 6, which also means there must be at least seven goals for a win. However, without the .5, if the game finishes with six total goals, it would be considered a “push” and you get your wagered money back. 

First off, neither team have plus odds. I would consider this a toss-up. So, if you would want plus odds on either one of them, you could play the three-way line or the Washington Capitals are -1 at +160. A $10 wager would win $16 and the payout would be $26. 

The New York Rangers are locked and loaded. They are healthy and ready to go to battle with their slew of assistant captains. I really like their roster. They made several additions in Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves and former St. Louis Blues forward Samuel Blais. Their back end is solid, led by Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba. And, their goaltending duo of Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev gives new head coach Gerard Gallant options.

As for the Capitals, there are plenty of familiar faces. They will be without Nicklas Backstrom tonight and for the foreseeable future. Vitek Vanecek will tend the pipes tonight, and the Capitals will be ready to prove they are capable of another run at the Cup. 

My pick: Capitals three-way +145. I will ride the Capitals on home ice tonight. The building will be electric and Alex Ovechkin will shine on the first regular-season game broadcast on TNT. 

Chicago Blackhawks (+170) vs. Colorado Avalanche (-200) 

O/U: 6.5 

Even with no Nathan MacKinnon tonight after testing positive for COVID-19, the Colorado Avalanche are the heavy favorite at home. It is not shocking considered the Avs are one of the favorites to win it all this year. Their roster is loaded with stars all over the place. This is a team that will be entertaining all year and favored in the majority of their contests. 

The Chicago Blackhawks are running out a new-look squad headlined by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and defensemen Seth Jones. Jonathan Toews is back after missing all of last season with an illness. The rebuild was short-lived in Chicago, and, at least on paper, General Manager Stan Bowman has put together a playoff-contending roster.  

My pick: Hawks ML +170. Homer pick? Absolutely. There is plenty of excitement coming into this season, and I am going to ride it on opening night. Fleury will keep them in the game and give them the chance to pull out the victory.

Vancouver Canucks (+160) vs. Edmonton Oilers (-186)

O/U: 6.5 

I had to think about this game for a bit. There were a lot of angles I was looking into. First off, I liked the over until I saw Mike Smith was 4–0 with a .937 save percentage for the Edmonton Oilers against the Vancouver Canucks last season. This one is tough. I feel that the Oilers are a deeper team offensively, but I lean toward the Canucks’ defense. But, I had to settle on something to try and win some cash for the weekend shenanigans. 

My pick: Oilers three-way -121. Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are one of the best duos in the NHL. In March of last season, The two have combined on an NHL-best 197 goals since 2016–17. Insane! Riding these guys tonight is the safe bet. 

Winnipeg Jets (-132) vs. Anaheim Ducks (+112) 

O/U: 5.5 +100

It is always hard to pass up an O/U at plus odds, so think about it. 

Hey, a road favorite! The Winnipeg Jets have had a winning record on the road for the past five seasons. It is a balanced roster and is destined to finish near the top of the Central Divison. As for the Anaheim Ducks, their roster is nothing special. They have finished toward the bottom of the league the past three seasons. Trevor Zegras will be the highlight of the team this season, as he will be in the race for the Calder Trophy with Cole Caufield and Spencer Knight. Maybe they surprise some people, but right now it does not look like it.

My pick: Jets -1.5. I think they win comfortably. John Gibson is the likely starter in the net for the Ducks, and while he is not a bad goalie, I do not like the defense in front of him. Ride the Jets into the night.

I would parlay:

— Leafs O 6/Jets -1.5 +425

Props I like:

— Canadiens team total including overtime over 2.5 -115

— Toews to have a point +105

— Zegras to score +310

Let’s start off the year with a bang! Happy gambling!

The post Tommy’s Puckline Picks — Oct. 13, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

Vancouver was without several of their big names in their lineup. Brock Boeser, Travis Hamonic, Quinn Hughes, Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and Brandon Sutter all sat this game out.

Despite the 15–8 shot totals in favor of Vancouver and the several goal posts that were hit, neither team was able to break the scoreless tie in the first period. The Canucks were unsuccessful on their lone power play opportunities, while the Kraken were 0–2 on the power play in the frame, including a double-minor high sticking call just a minute and a half into the contest.

The second period became the Vince Dunn show, as the defenseman scored two goals less than three minutes apart, giving the Kraken all the scoring they would need. Dunn’s first goal was on the power play, with Jack Rathbone in the penalty box, on a one-time feed from Calle Jarnkrok, which beat Thatcher Demko high to the glove side.

Just a few minutes later, Dunn swerved in behind a weaving Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz, who fed the trailing defenseman with a nice pass and a solid look at the net. Dunn snapped another shot past Demko, giving the visitors a 2–0 lead. Later in the period, Ryan Donato cleaned up a Jarnkrok rebound on the power play to give the Kraken a 3–0 heading into the second intermission.

Nathan Bastian put the exclamation point on the game late in the third period with a last-minute goal to send the Kraken home to Seattle with another huge win, this time 4–0, against their rivals over the border.

Anchor points

Philipp Grubauer was completely dialed in. There was no wasted effort in his performance, and he was in perfect position for just about every shot he faced. If this team is going to be a contender, Grubauer will need to continue to be one of their best players night in and night out.

Speaking of best players, Vince Dunn will be counted on heavily by head coach Dave Hakstol. If this is any indication of how he will be running the power play, the Kraken will be dangerous. With three goals in the preseason, Dunn looks like he will be in a race with McCann for the biggest breakout player on the team.

It would have been easy to brush off the Ryan Donato signing, but he has become another very useful player for Hakstol. He is not the type of player to “wow” you with highlight-reel plays, but he will go to the dirty areas and come out with the puck more often than not. His goal was nothing pretty, but it all looks the same on the scoresheet and will be crucial for the Kraken power play. He made the most of his 14:54 of ice time, getting five shots on net, four hits and the aforementioned power play tally.

One area where Seattle dominated was the face-off dots. Kraken centers won 59% of their draws.

The Kraken are off for the next week while they transition to regular-season mode. They faceoff Tuesday, Oct. 12, for the season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken wrap up preseason with 4–0 shutout over Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman’s trade deadline balance sheet looks like the following:

IN
RW Vinnie Hinostroza
RW Brett Connolly
D Riley Stillman
C/W Henrik Borgstrom
C/W Adam Gaudette
F Ryder Rolston
F Josh Dickinson
2021 second-round pick
2022 third-round pick
2021 fourth-round pick
2021 seventh-round pick

OUT
F Brad Morrison
F Lucas Wallmark
D Lucas Carlsson
F Matthew Highmore
C Carl Soderberg
C/W Mattias Janmark
D Madison Bowey
2021 fifth-round pick
2022 fifth-round pick

Net result: Positive, since the Hawks gave up absolutely nothing that is part of their long-term plan or even close to it, and acquired some projectable assets.

Caveat: While the same folks are doing the same “Big StanBo Victory Dance-a-thon” on Twitter this afternoon, if we are really being honest, the actual return here is, ahem, pretty conditional. Put another way, we know that all the “guys” than Bowman unloaded are nothing more than “guys.” But, we also know that:

• Hinostroza has historically been, well, a “guy”
• Connolly has been a disappointment much of his career and will very plausibly be wearing a Kraken sweater this summer
• No one has ever seen Stillman and Carlsson in the same room at the same time
• Vancouver thought Gaudette was worth losing for Highmore
• Rolston has been described in scouting reports as being defensively weak, a perimeter player and lacking high-level hockey sense. But, he is a Notre Dame guy, so, go Stan!

How this will play out: Fifth- and seventh-round draft picks are only slightly more statistically likely to play in the NHL than I am. But, Borgstrom (a 2016 first-round pick), and the second- and third-round picks Bowman acquired could each turn into something of value down the line. Similarly, statistically, many second- and third-rounders do not make it in the NHL (look no further than the Hawks’ own history in those rounds).

But, let’s say Borgstrom and one of those picks matriculate as solid contributors for the Hawks in say, middle- or bottom-six roles? Meh, okay, because in the larger perspective, Bowman gave up nothing he wanted to keep.

So, this trade deadline was overall a “win” for Bowman and the Hawks, but also not necessarily a big win—unless some combination of the picks and prospects Bowman acquired beat the odds, and exceed expectations and current projections.

All we have for now.

The post ANALYSIS: Blackhawks have a no-lose/maybe-win trade deadline appeared first on The Rink.

Thousands of fans streaming into Rogers Arena three hours before puck-drop. The Sedins ceremony starts at 6 local and is going to last about an hour (!). One the one hand, cool. On the other, fans are going to be out of gas by the time the game actually starts.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 13, 2020

With the Vancouver fans all pumped up for the ceremony, the Blackhawks needed to have a fast start. They did just that as the Hawks recorded the first 13 shots of the game. From the onset Chicago dictated the game and puck possession.

It was not until 14 minutes in to the first period when the Blackhawks thought they scored the first goal of the game. With Patrick Kane flying down the near side of the rink, a quick shot on net slipped past Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom. Brandon Saad was crashing the net and ending up behind Markstrom, the goal was called off because of goalie interference. Head coach Jeremy Colliton ended up challenging the play but after review the referees kept the call on the ice no goal. With the failed challenge the visitors were assessed a delay of game penalty. Vancouver took advantage of the penalty and scored a very nice looking goal by Bo Horvat. The play was set up nicely with great passing from J.T. Miller and Brandon Sutter.

Bo knows how to finish a beauty passing play. pic.twitter.com/fRhAZhWuAa

— NHL (@NHL) February 13, 2020

After the first period the Blackhawks led in shots 17-7. Clearly outplaying the Canucks but with nothing to show for it.

In the second period the Blackhawks had two power play chances but came up empty on both of them.

Just six and a half minutes in, Vancouver struck again on another nice passing play with a goal by Adam Gaudette.

After 40: #Canucks lead 2-0. Shots: 33-15 Blackhawks. pic.twitter.com/tgpp0REewf

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) February 13, 2020

The game started to get chippy as well in the second period. Kirby Dach put a huge hit on Antoine Roussel that left Roussel down on the ice for a bit. The period also featured the first of two fights in the game as Drake Caggiula and Tanner Pearson dropped the gloves about halfway through the period. It was a bit surprising to see Caggiula engage in the scrap considering his concussion issues earlier this season.

About one minute after the scrap, Corey Crawford came up huge with a big save on a breakaway by Elias Pettersson to hold the Vancouver lead to only 2-0.

After the second period the Blackhawks were still up huge in the shot column 33-15, which was the first time all season that the Hawks had more than 30 shots after two periods.

First time this season the #Blackhawks have had 30+ shots through first two periods per @ckamka.

— Scott King (@ScottKingMedia) February 13, 2020

To begin the third period, the visitors were a man short as Zack Smith was injured near the end of the second period. Smith did not return to the game.

MEDICAL UPDATE: Zack Smith (left hand) will not return to tonight’s game. #CHIvsVAN

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 13, 2020

Needing a huge period to win the game, Chicago came out strong again controlling the puck possession. This was just not enough as they could not find the back of the net in the third period as well.

Connor Murphy and Gaudette got in a scrap that led to a slashing call on Gaudette to give the Hawks a power play chance early. Once again the power play for the Blackhawks was very weak, creating very few chances in the game. They ended up being 0-5 on the power play in this game.

With three minutes left in the game, the Hawks pulled Crawford from the net for an extra skater and Brandon Sutter ended up scoring an empty net goal to ice the Canucks the 3-0 victory.

Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom was the story of the night as he stopped all 49 shots that the Hawks sent his way.

Jacob Markstrom became the first goaltender in @Canucks history to register multiple 40-save shutouts in a single season. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/Eckua0kIX4

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 13, 2020

That’s a 49-save @pepsi shutout for Jacob Markstrom (@j_markstrom).

You heard right… 49 SAVES! pic.twitter.com/hzQpAfFHPi

— NHL (@NHL) February 13, 2020

The Hawks have now lost five straight games. They now have two days off before playing the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

The post Along the boards: Slide hits five in a row as Markstrom blanks Blackhawks 3-0 appeared first on The Rink.

“This is the future of the NHL—all the teams with small forwards and slick forwards are gone, the big bullies are now playing, the guys that are 6’3, 6’4 . . . those are the guys scoring the goals, those are the guys that are checking.”

—Barry Melrose (on the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals)

This quote, pulled from a recent episode of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, started a bit of a twitter spat the last couple of days, reigniting the philosophical war over building an NHL roster based on size versus finesse/speed.

It’s a valid argument—and one that really needs to be broken down and discussed objectively—especially during the Stanley Cup Finals and with the draft and free agency right around the corner.

First of all, it’s kind of dumb to say it’s simply about size. There are good and bad big players and the same applies to small players.

Another quote to consider here (author unknown): “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it.

The responses to the Melrose quote, in the twitter thread I read, were quick to point out how Alex DeBrincat and Cam Atkinson, both small players, scored 40 goals a piece last year. But then someone else chimed in that they amassed those totals in the regular season—a different brand of hockey versus the playoffs.

This is an important distinction, especially for Hawks fans who, in 2016 and 2017, had all kinds of confidence about their team’s playoff chances based on regular season performance, and then watched them get beaten in the first round by the Blues in 2016, and absolutely flattened by the Predators in 2017.

There’s the rub: is it about how many points you amass, or how many goals you score in the regular season, or about how far you go in the playoffs and winning a Cup?

Let’s work with the assumption that the “goal” is to win in the playoffs. If you disagree, you should probably stop reading.

In the NHL, regular season hockey and playoff hockey are different styles of hockey, without question. Setting aside the more subjective things like how the game is officiated before and after April 10, there are some hard facts that can’t be denied:

First, regular season games don’t start to become really meaningful until after, say, Christmas. The St. Louis Blues, for example, were one of the league’s worst teams before Christmas this past season—and its best after that point. And it’s turned out well for them. Point is, in the playoffs, there’s simply a lot more at stake game to game. And game after game. You can’t stink for the first half of the playoffs, then win the Cup. Doesn’t work that way.

Add to that the fairly widely accepted “fact” that the refs tend to swallow the whistles in the playoffs.

So then you have a lot at stake in each game, along with much more permissive officiating—and what you end up with are much more physical games. Again, game after game.

But that’s not all. There’s no 3-on-3 overtime in the playoffs, or a shootout. Games are decided by 5-on-5 hockey. Sometimes, in a given game, or over the course of a series, a lot of 5-on-5 hockey.

That last bit doesn’t necessarily favor big players over small players, or vice versa. It becomes more about endurance and will.

And all that said, because the style of play is so much more physical, the frequency of injury in the playoffs is higher game to game. Yet players tend to play through injuries in the playoffs (or try to). Because, unlike the regular season, where you can take a few weeks off and come back and help your team—in the playoffs, they might be eliminated by then.

Pretty passing and stickhandling plays and players moving the puck uninterrupted through the neutral zone—while not totally uncommon in the playoffs—seem to happen less. And a relatively higher percentage of the goals are of the “greasy” variety.

And this is where things like size—without dismissing compete level (regardless of size)—become very important.

The net conclusion here is fairly obvious, and proven by the teams that actually win the Cup year after year: teams that have players with the will to play physical hockey, and the talent to produce while playing that brand of hockey, win the Cup year after year.

Last year, it was the Washington Capitals. This year, either of the teams in the finals fits that description.

Going back over the years, you can point at the Penguins’ Cup teams and those of the Blackhawks’ since 2009 as examples of highly talented teams that won Cups. But those were teams that could and did match up physically, and dealt out as much or more punishment than they took. Go back to just 2015, when the Hawks could roll a “fourth line” of Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger and Andrew Desjardins. They didn’t score (much), but they dominated offensive zone possession and drove opponents nuts. And it’s important to point out, none of those players are what you’d call “big.” But all of them “played big.”

Conversely, remember when the Vancouver Canucks won the Cup in 2011? Wait, no, that’s right, a “high finesse” team that was the presumptive favorite to win the Cup that year, the Canucks ran into the brick wall known as the Boston Bruins, got epicly “bi— slapped” and took a physical and humiliating Cup Final loss.

Just this year, the “electric” Tampa Bay Lightning were on the high-flying express train to the Finals when they got destroyed in the first round by a Columbus team that outhit them and outworked them. Then, Columbus ran into a team that upped the stakes on physicality and intimidation, and now Boston finds themselves in yet another Cup Final.

Fact is, although interwebz experts keep proclaiming that “the game has changed,” typically as part of a rationale for drafting 165 pound defensemen, or in support of teams that get a disproportionate amount of regular season production in 3-on-3 OT and on the perimeter at 5-on-5 (like the Hawks of the last few years), the Stanley Cup playoffs keep proving, year in and year out, that the games played in May and June really haven’t changed that much.

Again, it’s not just about the size of the player, as proven by the likes of Brad Marchand, but it really is about how willing and able your players are to go in between the circles and to the front of the net, win along the wall, and take and deliver punishment every other night for a couple of months.

Size, skill and speed—especially when a player has all three—check important boxes. But definitely, what seems just as (if not more) important is the size of the heart and willingness to pay a physical price to win.

All I have for now. Comment below.

The post The age-old debate: size versus finesse in the NHL appeared first on The Rink.

First Period

Luke Johnson had a good look for the Blackhawks 1:50 into the game from the right circle but it was sucked up easily by Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Shortly thereafter the Blackhawks headed to the power play as the result of a Antoine Roussel high-sticking penalty. It was more of the same for the Blackhawks power play unit as they registered 0 shots on goal during the two minutes.

After some back and forth play for a few minutes Saad was able to split two Canucks defenders with his speed and power one through Markstrom to make it 1-0 Blackhawks. He was assisted by Kunitz and Anisimov.

Just nine seconds later Brent Seabrook was called for interference. After an early scoring chance the Blackhawks were able to kill the penalty. As both teams returned to full strength there wasn’t any notable action until the Hayden-Kruger-Kampf line had a great shift which saw a few shots, significant time in the offensive zone but not a goal.

An errant pass by Nick Schmaltz led to an unassisted breakaway goal for Jake Virtanen at 15:33 in the period to make it a 1-1 game. With a couple minutes left in the first Kunitz made his second nice pass of the night to Anisimov whose backhand was stopped by Markstrom to keep the game tied at 1.

The Blackhawks headed to the power play with :34 left but recorded no shots on goal before the period ended.

Second Period

As the Blackhawks began the second on the power play- Toews was able to capitalize and put the team up 2-1 with a wicked wrist-shot. It was career goal number 299 for The Captain and moved him into sixth all-time for the Blackhawks moving past Dennis Hull. He was assisted by Johnson and Erik Gustafsson but it should be noted that Saad did a great job of screening the goalie.

Seabrook took his second penalty of the game at the 11:39 mark as he tripped Bo Horvat who was starting to take the edge on him heading to the goal. While on the penalty kill Saad was able to breakaway but hit the crossbar on his snapshot. It looked like he put the rebound in for a goal but it was deemed he put it in with a kicking motion. That was the correct call and the Blackhawks went on to kill the penalty.

Virtanen scored his second goal of the night to tie the game at 2 with 7:36 left in the second. He beat Crawford high blocker side with a snipe after Brandon Davidson hesitated slightly to give him a clear shooting lane. 

The remainder of the period went on with both teams having some lower percentage chances but ultimately no goals.

Third Period

Saad opened the period with another great power move to the net but couldn’t finish with the backhand. Shortly after Gustafsson was called for hooking in the defensive zone. The Canucks controlled the play for the next two minutes with a few good chances but the Blackhawks were still able to kill the penalty.

In what looked like an incidental play Brandon Manning collided with Troy Strecher and looked to hit him in the head. There was no penalty called but Strecher did leave the game.

With 10:37 left in the game Brendan Gaunce put the Canucks up 3-2 with their first lead of the game. In an unfortunate play of events Toews won a board battle and tried to pass it to John Hayden who had no stick because he gave his to Henri Jokiharju who lost his. Toews’ pass was right on the tape of Gaunce who beat Crawford high glove side.

The Canucks went up 4-2 with 3:27 left in the game when a Roussel pass was tipped by Manning into his own goal. A minute later the Blackhawks pulled Crawford for the empty net but were unable to capitalize as the game ended 4-2.

Positives

• Saad looked like the man-child again. 1G 5 SOG
• Kunitz had a few nice passes and one that led to a goal.

 Areas For Improvement

• Nick Schmaltz is still looking lost and a bad pass of his led to a breakaway goal.
• DeBrincat was almost invisible in this game.
• Scoring is still only coming from top two lines.

Please comment below and follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and hockey musings.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Fall To Canucks 4-2 appeared first on The Rink.

These were the starting lines:
Patrick Sharp– Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad – Vinnie Hinostroza – Matthew Highmore
Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Alex DeBrincat
John Hayden – David Kampf – Andreas Martinsen

Duncan Keith – Jan Rutta
Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook
Jordan Oesterle – Connor Murphy

In net, JF Berube’s number was up—while all Hawk fans could do was hope the number of goals allowed was, ummm, down.

First period.

The newly cobbled line of Brandon Saad, Vince Hinostroza and Matthew Highmore had a couple of really strong shifts about 5-7 minutes into the action, peppering Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom with shots—but to no avail.

At 12:49 of the first, Vancouver defenseman Alex Edler pinched into the slot and fired a puck past Berube. 1-0 Canucks.

On literally the next shift, Patrick Kane laid a nice drop pass right on Brent Seabrook’s tape as he pinched in on the right side and launched a bomb that was deflected by Nick Schmaltz and past Markstrom. 1-1.

The Hawks went down a goal after losing a defensive zone faceoff, which led to a point shot that Berube allowed to rebound right on to the blade of a waiting Henrik Sedin. 2-1 Vancouver at 2:17. And that was how the period would end.

Second period.

At 17:28, Hawk forward Andreas Martinsen won a short fight against Benoit Pouliot, after absolutely launching another Vancouver player into the boards. Apparently, Martinsen pretty much starts every period on a mission to destroy somebody. The Hawks ended the ensuing power play by nearly giving up a goal on a 2-1 created by some bonehead puck handling by Duncan Keith.

After a Schmaltz scoring chance, and with the Hawks caught off guard, Vancouver center Bo Horvat had a breakaway chance, beating Berube five-hole at 13:01. But NBC Sports color man Ed Olczyk was quick to remind the viewers that Berube had made a couple of saves on the previous power play. So that was “ok.” 3-1.

Less than three minutes later, Edler notched his second goal of the night on a 60 foot shot, with no screen. Berube was put out of his misery, which likely had the same effect on several thousand fans in attendance, Anton Forsberg in. 4-1.

From about the 6:00 point on, the pace ramped up and both teams traded chances. The Hawks had a couple of grade A chances, especially on one shift by the Kane-Schmaltz line, but could not finish.

Third period.

With the Canucks holding a 4-1 lead, and the Blackhawks being one of the worst teams in the league at comebacks, the third period was a mere formality.

Just over three minutes into the final period Forsberg took his first lump on the noggin.

The Blackhawks were caught deep in their own end and were not able to get the puck out of their zone.  Michael Del Zotto threw a long point shot at the net that went off the leg of Brandon Sutter and into the net past a bewildered Forsberg. 5-1.

A couple of minutes later, Vinnie Hinostroza had a wide open net, after a feed from Brandon Saad, but the puck somehow went off a prone Jake Virtanen and harmlessly into the netting above the glass.

At Pat and Eddie’s favorite point in the period, tree-turdy-tree, Matthew Highmore redirected a precision Brandon Saad pass from the half boards past Jacob Markstrom for a virtually meaningless goal, for anyone but Highmore. 5-2.

That was it for the Blackhawks as they dropped 36th game of the season while, again, outshooting an opponent by a considerable margin.

Pluses

• Before we get to the Hockey, Eddie Olczyk announced between the first and second period that he has been diagnosed as cancer free.  Wonderful news for Edzo and his family.
• Andreas Martinsen might not be the next great NHL power forward, but he brings something to the table that the Blackhawks have been lacking, especially since Ryan Hartman was traded. In each of his two games, he has made a big (clean) physical play which has kept the opponents looking over their shoulders when he was on the ice.
• Brandon Saad has not been scoring but he has been playing setup man, and doing it pretty well. On the surface, the casual meatballs will cry for DA GOALZ, but Saad has had underlying value.  Keep an eye out for a big bounce-back season next year.
• Nick Schmaltz took advantage of his first game as the Blackhawks number one center by scoring his 21st goal of the season. He has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal 2017-18 season.

Minuses

• The goalies are just simply awful, at this point. Their confidence is as durable as paper mache and this season cannot end fast enough for Jimmy Waite.  Maybe the Corey Crawford haters will finally realize how spoiled they have been.  The again, maybe not.
• The Blackhawks were 0-4 on the power play and out shot their opponent 41-27. This was a winnable game. Unfortunately the Blackhawks are just a bad team.

The post Chicago Blackhawks vs Vancouver Canucks Game Recap appeared first on The Rink.

7:30PM Central
RADIO: WGN 720
TV: NBCSCH, SNP

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
J-F Berube (2-4-1, 3.70 GAA, .897 Save%)

Vancouver:
Jacob Markstrom (18-26-6, 2.80 GAA, .909 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:
Sharp-Schmaltz-Kane
Jurco-Anisimov-DeBrincat
Saad-Hinostroza-Highmore
Hayden-Kampf-Martinsen

Keith-Rutta
Gustafsson-Seabrook
Oesterle-Murphy

Vancouver:
Leipsic-Horvat-Goldobin
Sedin-Sedin-Boucher
Archibald-Sutter-Gagner
Jokinen-Down-Virtanen

Edler-Tanev
Del Zotto-Stecher
Pouliot-Biega

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:
Chicago 16.1% (28^th)
Vancouver 21.8% (T-8^th)

Penalty Kill:
Chicago 79.3% (20^th)
Vancouver 77.7% (T-22^nd)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):
Chicago 52.80% (4^th)
Vancouver 47.89% (25^th)

Faceoffs:
Chicago 49.8% (17^th)
Vancouver 49.5% (20^th)

SUMMARY:

Tuesday night’s embarrassing 5-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche was the loss that sealed the Blackhawks fate. They have officially been eliminated from the playoffs, and this painful season will end after its final eight games.

Following the loss at the United Center Tuesday, some of the players and coaches had some interesting comments.

Connor Murphy on missing the playoffs, “It sucks, and it’s kind of embrassing.”

Joel Quenneville on finishing the season, “It’s got a lot of meaning on the other side, so let’s play the right way and try to have fun.”

Patrick Kane on missing the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season, “Obviously one of those streaks you want to keep going. We had a disappointing second half of the season, to say the least.”

And my favorite quote after Tuesday night also came from Kane, who commented on what the Blackhawks have to play for in the remaining eight games. “We’re playing in the NHL, we’re playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, we’re playing in front of 21,000 fans every night. That’s enough motivation right there.”

As purely a fan, I hope the Blackhawks live up to what Kane said. Play hard, play loose, and show you want to take the ice every shift. I am not sure what will happen after this season, but these players should be playing for their careers after the season they have produced through 74 games.

The first of their four remaining home games, “in front of 21,000 fans,” is tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. The rivalry is pretty much extinct, but this is a team the Blackhawks should take care of on their home ice.

EDIT – It was announced after the morning skate that Jonathan Toews would “miss a few games” with and upper body injury sustained against the Blues.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

Follow: @CoachMajewski

The post Chicago Blackhawks vs Vancouver Canucks Preview & Game Thread appeared first on The Rink.

The Canucks were led by talented youngsters Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser, but had a veteran cast of supporting characters. The last time the Hawks faced this team the line of Tomas Vanek, Brock Boeser and Sam Gagner just absolutely ate them alive.

Joel Quenneville started Anton Forsberg in net, once again, after possibly his best game as a Blackhawk, while sitting Lance Bouma, Patrick Sharp and Jan Rutta in the Shrimp Cocktail Suite again.

These were the Blackhawks starting lines:
Alex DeBrincat – Jonathan Toews – Anthony Duclair
Brandon Saad – Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Ryan Hartman – Artem Anisimov – Tommy Wingels
Vince Hinostroza – David Kampf – Tomas Jurco

Duncan Keith – Jordan Oesterle
Michal Kempny – Connor Murphy
Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook

The game opened with the Blackhawks struggling to even get a shot on net for the entire first half of the first period. Vancouver, on the other hand, came out and imposed some physical play by dropping both Anthony Duclair and Tomas Jurco with big checks.

In the bottom half of the first period each team stepped up to the plate and took a turn on the power play, however, they both mailed in a generally weak efforts. It was even strength, though, where the Blackhawks eventually took a 1-0 lead.

Brandon Saad led the rush towards the Vancouver end with just under five minutes remaining in the period, while Nick Schmaltz snuck in behind the Canucks defenders. Once Schmaltz cleared both the defender and the blue line, Saad hit him with a pass and Schmaltz was in all alone. He cut across the crease, got the goalie to open up and tucked the puck into the net. This is how the first period ended, with the Blackhawks also leading 11-8 in shots on net.

In the second period, the Blackhawks looked like they were set up for a prime opportunity with a powerplay but, as is the norm, they completely squandered the chance; again.

As a result, the Canucks came right back following the failed powerplay and tied the game. Alex Debrincat failed to dump the puck so the Blackhawks could get a change and ge the right personnel on the ice and Brendan Gaunce turned the play around the other way. Gaunce skated up the right-wing and beat Forsberg pretty easily, five-hole. The Blackhawks never again held the lead.

Four minutes after the Canucks tied the game, Erik Gustafsson tried to “help” his goaltender by screening Forsberg to attempt to block a long Troy Stecher shot. This left Bo Horvat plenty of time and space to tip the puck past Forsberg for a 2-1 Canucks lead. The second period finished with the score still 2-1 and the shots on net tied at seven a piece.

Three minutes into the third period, another Vancouver forward was left all alone in front of Anton Forsberg. This time Daniel Sedin was the lucky lottery winner, as Jordan Oesterle chased a loose puck.  Sedin redirected a long Jake Virtanen shot, that was originally going wide of then net, past the Hawks goaltender.  All this while Duncan Keith stood roughly three feet away, just observing.

Just as the game reached the halfway point of the third period, Alex Debrincat cut the Canucks lead down to one goal.  Jonathan Toews set the table for Debrincat and the rookie snapped a shot past Jacob Markstrom.  This was the tenth straight Blackhawks goal scored by a player under 23 years of age.

The Canucks mercifully put the Blackhawks out of their misery with just under three minutes left to play.  Brendan Gaunce snuck in behind Brent Seabrook while Loui Eriksson set up a pass from the corner.  Gaunce then out muscled the Hawks defenseman for the insurance goal, and sending the Hawks away pointless.

Pluses

• Jonathan Toews had a bit of a jump in his step drawing both of the first two power play chances. The following power plays were another story altogether.
• The Hawks were good at the faceoff dots, once again, winning 56% of their draws.

Minuses

• Hey, great, the kids are playing pretty well.  This does no good, though, when the rest of vets are dragging their sorry behinds night after night.
• Speaking of sorry behinds, Patrick Kane can no longer be taking nights off.  He was a -3 and completely invisible.
• The power play, the power play, the power play, the power play.  For those keeping score at home, that is 0-4.  This team is absolutely dying by their own refusal to fix the power play.  This is not a matter of scheme, setup or coaching philosophy, either.  They need to do two simple things, move their feet and move the puck, yet they simply refuse.  At this point its stubborn arrogance.
• The Canucks had only 21 shots on net and won the game with four goals.  This is not a playoff quality result.  I keep saying it, but this team is not worthy of being in the playoffs.  People need to wake up and smell what is in front of them.
• Not much infuriates me more than when the announcing team gives blatant misinformation or just blatantly omits important information. In the first period, alone, Pat and Steve first completely ignored Tomas Jurco getting rag dolled in the neutral zone while they rambled on about some innocuous anecdote. Then they fawned over an Anton Forsberg “save” that wasn’t a save at all. Forsberg fell down and Sedin shot the puck right into him. Konroyd even said, “That’s great scrambling by Anton Forsberg.” What?? Get your heads out of your rear ends, guys!
• Speaking of heads in your rear ends, We all know that Henrik and Daniel look to pass to each other.  Pat Foley and his stupid “Where is Henrik? Where is Daniel?” needs to end. It is not cute; it is not funny; it is, though, maddening.  Can someone in the organization please give him a proper smack in the side of the head and tell him to knock it off?
• What is going on with Ryan Hartman?  If he has reverted back to Rockford Ice Hog Ryan Hartman, it might soon be time to see if you can use his “potential” to gather some assets.  Skating eight empty minutes is getting wasteful and old.
• This “When is Corey Crawford Coming Back” narrative also needs to end.  If he came back tomorrow (he clearly isn’t), it would still be too late.  Even IF he was able to carry them limping into the playoffs, they would get stomped.  The team needs to seriously consider just shelving him and taking a mulligan.

The post Recap: Blackhawks at Canucks 4-2 Loss appeared first on The Rink.

9:00PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
Anton Forsberg (5-7-3, 2.86 GAA, .915 Save%)

Vancouver:
Jacob Markstrom (14-16-5, 2.75 GAA, .908 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:
DeBrincat-Toews-Duclair
Saad-Schmaltz-Kane
Hartman-Anisimov-Wingels
Hinostroza-Kampf-Jurco

Keith-Oesterle
Gustafsson-Seabrook
Kempny-Murphy

Vancouver:
D.Sedin-H.Sedin-Boeser
Vanek-Horvat-Eriksson
Baertschi-Sutter-Granlund
Gaunce-Gagner-Virtanen

Edler-Stecher
Del Zotto-Tanev
Hutton-Biega

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

Chicago 15.3% (28th)
Vancouver 22.1% (6th)

Penalty Kill:

Chicago 81.9% (14th)
Vancouver 77.6% (25th)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):

Chicago 53.2% (2nd)
Vancouver 47.9% (26th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.5% (T-18th)
Vancouver 48.9% (23rd)

SUMMARY:

All season Blackhawks players and coaches have talked about needing to, “string together some wins.” At this point in the season, and looking ahead on their schedule, this may be their best time to do it. Riding a two-game winning streak, the Hawks face the Vancouver Canucks tonight, followed by a home and home series with the Calgary Flames. With the Canucks rebuilding, and the Flames a few points ahead in the standings, turning this two-game win streak into a five-game win streak could go a long way in the Blackhawks playoff chances.

The Canucks are coming off an overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, and gave the Blackhawks fits the last time the two teams met. On December 28th, the Canucks ran the Hawks out of the building in a 5-2 win. Despite the Canucks record, they do have some good young fire power up front led by All-Star game MVP Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat.

As mentioned, the Blackhawks come into tonight’s game with that two-game winning streak after an impressive win in Nashville Tuesday night. The Blackhawks played really well the first 40 minutes, with goals by David Kampf and Vinnie Hinostroza, but were saved by Anton Forsberg in the third, who saved 42 of 43 shots on net. Forsberg’s play has really stood out over the last few games, and his stats are beginning to show it, with his goals against average falling under three, and his save percentage rising each game, now up to .915%.

Let’s hope for the sake of all us crazy Hawks fans who will be staying up to watch this nine o’clock start, that they come out and play well. There is nothing worse than losing sleep to watch the Blackhawks play a disinterested hockey game.

Please join the always entertaining conversation below! Look for a game recap tonight or tomorrow AM.

Follow @CoachMajewski

The post Preview & Game Thread: Blackhawks-Canucks appeared first on The Rink.

The Hawks came in riding a two game losing streak, after winning five in a row, while the Canucks were coming in on a bit of a cold streak as well, losing four of their last five.

These were the starting lines:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Ryan Hartman
Nick Schmaltz – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – Alex DeBrincat
Lance Bouma – Tommy Wingels – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Jordan Oesterle
Gustav Forsling – Jan Rutta
Connor Murphy – Brent Seabrook

It only took a few minutes for the Canucks to threaten, as Thomas Vanek found himself staring at a wide open net but somehow failed to give the Canucks that 1-0 lead. After a closer look, Hawks goalie Anton Forsberg was able to get the paddle of his stick on the shot, making a wonderful desperation save. This was not the last that Forsberg would see of Vanek, however.

The Blackhawks rewarded their goaltender’s fine work by taking a penalty very shortly thereafter. Luckily for the Hawks, the Canucks had a pretty awful showing on the actual power play. The bad news was that just as the power play ended, with the Hawks running around in their own end, the Canucks’ Sam Gagner redirected a long Nikolay Goldobin shot past Forsberg, to give them the lead.

The Blackhawks found themselves on their first power play of the night shortly thereafter and actually had some decent pressure, but it expired without incident. Overall, Chicago was 1-5 on power play chances, because their second power play of the night, just a few minutes later, resulted in their first goal on the man advantage in six games.

Patrick Kane followed up a prime scoring chance that Alex Edler saved by feeding Nick Schmaltz for a bang-bang one time play in the slot, tying the game.

This goal would close out the scoring in the opening period, with the teams heading into the intermission knotted up at one goal a piece, with shots favoring the Blackhawks just slightly, 14-13.

The middle period had a slower pace and less action than the first. The teams only managed to produce 16 total shots on net (9-7 in favor of the Hawks), and the only goal was scored by the aforementioned Vanek, with seven minutes remaining. Of course, this goal came after yet another failed Blackhawks power play.

Vanek took a really nice, no-look pass from Sam Gagner behind the net, and quickly one-timed the puck past a surprised Forsberg to give the Canucks a lead they would never relinquish. The Nucks caught the Blackhawks fourth line on the ice and baited both Hawks defenders below the goal line, leaving Vanek wide open in the slot, and Forsberg with absolutely no chance.

In the third period, the Blackhawks simply fell apart. They gave up a goal to Gagner just moments into the period and then later goals to Vanek and Brock Boeser, which put the game far out of their reach.

Vanek’s goal was almost a carbon copy of his second period goal, except he received the pass from Boeser instead of Gagner. The Hawks simply made the Vanek/Boeser/Gagner line look like Tikkanen/Gretzky/Kurri as they had 5/4/3 points respectively. Gagner continued his virtually career-long dominance of Chicago.

The Blackhawks saved very little face, as Ryan Hartman scored a meaningless goal with nine seconds remaining to cut the lead to three goals, but that made no difference. The banged up Hawks have no time to nurse their wounds or sulk as they hopped a plane to face the Oilers in Edmonton, tonight.

Pluses

• All of the Blackhawks regular centers were over 50% at the faceoff dots.
• Kampf had a decent first NHL game but also didn’t really stand out, either. I’ll give him a pass because the injury to Artem Anisimov really hosed the lines up.
• The possession numbers favored the Blackhawks pretty convincingly, with the Kane line being the only line that was under water. The Jonathan Toews line actually led the team in 5v5 Corsi, but failed to produce any goals.
• Ryan Hartman had a really nice game, and was rewarded with a goal late in the game. He drove hard to the net all night and drew a couple penalties as a result. It was nice to see someone with a white sweater actually play like they had some cojones, because Connor Murphy was the only other Hawks to show some.
• Jordan Oesterle can be a bit of an adventure in his own end, but I like what I see from him, especially moving the puck up the ice. He’s not Erik Karlsson, but can be a very useful offensive depth defenseman for the foreseeable future of this team. Especially since, excluding this year, the Blackhawks have been abjectly terrible at drafting defensemen.
• I’m going to keep harping on the fact that the Hawks could have used a power play specialist like Sam Gagner when he was available, and failed.  Now they get to continuously be clowned by him.  What do I know, though?

Minuses

• Anisimov left the game after playing just three minutes and never returned. The only report post game was that he had an upper body injury and could miss “some time“. If injuries start to pile up for this team, they could fall off the table quickly.
• Speaking of injuries, Connor Murphy took a rough and dangerous hit from behind from Alex Biega in the second period. It initially looked like Murphy might have had his bell rung and headed to the locker room, but returned and laid a big hit on Brendan Gaunce later in the second period.
• Make all the excuses you want, but the Canucks are a team the Blackhawks needed to beat. This team is trending downward once again, and this is just not a very good team right now.
• The Blackhawks are clearly a one line team. This team goes as Patrick Kane goes. When he is not scoring, the Blackhawks are truly awful. They had more than enough opportunity on the power play, to keep this game within reach and failed miserably. This is unacceptable from a team with so much natural goal scoring talent. Even the clueless Steve Konroyd joined Pat Foley in roasting the miserable power play towards the end of the second period.
• As I mentioned on Twitter, despite getting a late assist on a meaningless goal in this game, Alex Debrincat has once again gone ice cold. He now has only one goal and four assists in 11 December games.

The post Recap: Blackhawks at Canucks 5-2 Loss appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks (17-13-5) at Vancouver Canucks (15-17-5)

8PM Central/10 Pacific

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

Anton Forsberg (1-4-3, 3.13 GAA, .909 SV%)

Vancouver:

Jacob Markstrom (9-12-4, 2.77 GAA, .905 SV%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

Saad-Toews-Sharp

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

DeBrincat-Kampf-Hinostroza

Bouma-Wingels-Hayden

Keith-Oesterle

Forsling-Rutta

Murphy-Seabrook

Vancouver

Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson

Vanek-Gagner-Boeser

Boucher-Granlund-Biega

Gaunce-Dowd-Virtanen

Edler-Stecher

Del-Zotto-Hutton

Pouliot-Gudbranson

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power play:

Chicago 13.9% (29^th)

Vancouver 21.9% (9th)

Penalty kill:

Chicago 82.3% (11^th)

Vancouver 77.3% (26th)

Corsi For % (5-on-5):

Chicago 52.9% (6^th)

Vancouver 47.9% (23rd)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 48.3% (26^th)

Vancouver 48.4% (24th)

SUMMARY:

The bad luck Blackhawks got a little more of the same yesterday, with the news that season MVP Corey Crawford has gone on IR. Lesser, associated news was the recall of goalie Jeff Glass and center David “Will You Be Mein” Kampf from Rockford.

Rumors swirled yesterday Crawford injured his back and wil miss at least four games, due to having gone on IR. Anton Forsberg takes over, and frankly, Forsberg has had some hard luck himself with two overtime losses in games he played very well in—but for the most part, he’s been solid to at times brilliant. And the Hawks will need him to be at least good.

Because Chicago needs a win and to regain the positives they had during a recent 5-game win streak—which has now been countered by two straight losses. This morning, the Hawks sit just outside a playoff spot in the West.

We’ll recap tomorrow AM.

Follow: @jaeckel

The post Preview: Blackhawks at Canucks appeared first on The Rink.