The only lineup change made by the Blackhawks from their loss to the Islanders was Colin Blackwell switching in for Taylor Raddysh, with Petr Mrazek once again getting the start in net.

First Period: 

The first twenty minutes involved a lot of back and forth from both teams. The first few minutes were especially hectic with both sides getting chances one after the other. Every time he was tested, Mrazek stood on his head and kept the puck out, though he did have his defense helping him for once. Mason Marchment got the best chance for Dallas in the period, putting a shot in tight off of the far post past Mrazek. The period would end as it started, in a zero-zero tie.

Second Period:

The second started off as hectic as the first, with the Stars getting in a bunch of shots on net in the first three minutes. Their best chance in that sequence came on a Roope Hintz wrister from the right circle. Mrazek came out to challenge and made a beautiful glove save. The Blackhawks got their first powerplay opportunity of the game on a Matt Duchene slash of Connor Bedard. Bedard then went to work. He got the puck along the wall, skated in towards the net, and fired a wrister that beat Scott Wedgewood far post, 1–0 Blackhawks.

CONNOR BEDARD. pic.twitter.com/uyRz439rFO

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 6, 2024

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Just over a minute later, Andreas Athanasiou got in on the action with his first of the year. Lukas Reichel was skating through the middle of the offensive zone and drew a penalty, but got the puck back to Athanasiou. He wristed it right into the back of the net, 2–0 Blackhawks.

Three minutes later, Seth Jones was the recipient of a beautiful pass from Ryan Donato. He wristed a shot past Wedgewood, making it 3–0 Blackhawks. The Stars woke up before the end of the period, however. After a Tyler Johnson attempt at one end of the ice, the Stars took the puck quickly the other way. Miro Heiskanen made a beautiful pass tape to tape to Hintz who tipped the puck in past Mrazek, putting Dallas on the board. The period ended with the Blackhawks leading 3–1 despite a heavy shot advantage for Dallas.

Third Period:

Just under nine minutes into the frame, the Dallas Stars looked as though they were clawing their way back in. Mavrik Bourque took the puck into the net and ran over Mrazek, so the goal that followed ended up being disallowed. Heiskanen was around the Stars’ second goal as well. He got a backhander on net that was tipped in by Jamie Benn in front, getting the Dallas Stars to within one goal. Mrazek stood on his head for the rest of the game, though, stopping the ensuing Dallas chances, and leading the Blackhawks to a 3–2 victory.

Analysis:

The Blackhawks had no business winning this game. They were getting outshot by massive margins every period, with the Stars clearly outclassing them in skill as well as desire to win. They did tighten down defensively, allowing high shot totals, yes, but also playing good defense as a team. Chicago had more hits, takeaways, and blocked shots than Dallas, even as they were outshot 44-17 for the game. MacKenzie Entwistle stood out this game, as he was all over the place, and trying to do everything he could in all areas of the game. Athanasiou deserved his first, and Seth Jones played one of his best games of the season too, playing some great defense, and getting on the board himself.

the chicago blackhawks when they play playoff bound teams: pic.twitter.com/sGDfiCOp5Z

— x – addie | #1 lukas reichel defender (@reichelhughes) April 6, 2024

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The Blackhawks are up next against the Minnesota Wild tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon. That game will be at 2:30 Central on NBC Sports Chicago+.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks hold on to defeat first-place Stars, win 3–2 appeared first on The Rink.

#Blackhawks lineup vs. Stars:
Foligno-Bedard-Kurashev
Beauvillier-Dickinson-Raddysh
Donato-T. Johnson-Blackwell
Reichel-Guttman-Entwistle

Vlasic-Murphy
Tinordi-Phillips
Korchinski-Crevier

Mrazek
Söderblom

Scratches: R. Johnson, Zaitsev

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 30, 2023

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First Period:

The injury bug struck early for the Blackhawks in this game. Taylor Raddysh played two shifts early in the first and was unable to come back for the rest of the game. That meant the Blackhawks were only icing eleven forwards for the remainder of this contest. Despite that, they were the ones able to grab the first goal of the game. After an Anthony Beauvillier shot on goal, Tyler Johnson cleaned up the rebound to put the Blackhawks up 1–0 eight minutes into the frame.

Tyler Johnson pokes home his eighth goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/A3LnIUx3Lj

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 30, 2023

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Three minutes later, Lukas Reichel got the puck behind the Stars’ net. He fed it in front to Cole Guttman, who buried his third of the season, making it 2–0 Blackhawks early in this one. It would only take a minute or so for Dallas to get right back into the game. On a powerplay rush into the Blackhawks’ zone, the puck went from Jamie Benn to Joel Pavelski to Roope Hintz, who had a wide-open net to put the puck into and make the score 2–1 Blackhawks to end the frame.

Second Period:

It took the same amount of time into the second period for either team to get another goal. This time, Dallas would tie things up. Nils Lunkqvist put the puck right on net and got a tip in front from Pavelski, knotting things up at 2–2. It took all of twenty seconds for the Stars to get another one. Eerily similar to his first of the game, Roope Hintz had another wide-open Blackhawks’ net to tap this one home, putting the Stars up 3–2. The Blackhawks’ forwards were beaten badly on this play, giving the Stars the three-on-two to get the wide-open net.

Third Period:

Two minutes and ten seconds into the third, Reichel had an absolutely brutal giveaway along the boards. Wyatt Johnston skated in and put the puck off of Petr Mrazek’s pads. The puck bounced right out to Jamie Benn, who put the Stars up 4–2 early in the third. The Blackhawks didn’t just play dead though, as they would show they still had life. Just after their powerplay expired, Jason Dickinson got the puck out in the slot and ripped a slapshot past Scott Wedgewood, getting the Blackhawks back to within one, 4–3 Dallas. The Blackhawks went on the powerplay again late in the period. With 2:26 left on the clock, and the Blackhawks on the powerplay, Johnson put in another rebound goal to knot things up at four, and send this game to overtime.

The Blackhawks tied it with 2:36 left and forced OT pic.twitter.com/wcpUgoanCX

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 30, 2023

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Overtime:

The Stars poured it on in overtime with a furious barrage of shots on Mrazek. The Blackhawks looked absolutely gassed but were surviving. In the last ten of overtime, Hintz got the puck on his stick once again, and put home his hattrick goal, giving the Stars the 5–4 win.

Analysis:

The Blackhawks did not look like they were on even terms with the Stars. The Stars looked like they were skating circles around them, especially Jarred Tinordi. He had an absolutely brutal game, getting beat so many times by players who are much smaller than him, but faster. Mrazek looked out of position too, as he bit hard on several of the Stars’ goals, giving them tap-ins when the initial man passed instead of taking a shot. Despite the ugliness of this game, it’s good to see this team fight back from being down by two goals. That at least shows some resilience, as even if they are getting beat, they aren’t backing down from playing out the rest of the game and fighting back.

The Blackhawks are playing again in Dallas on Sunday. That game will be at 7:00 central on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks drop in overtime to Dallas 5–4 appeared first on The Rink.

Fans were not even in their seats before Stars forward Roope Hintz (allegedly) gave them a 1–0 just 50 seconds after the opening faceoff. It looked like Jason Robertson banked the puck off Mark Giordano’s skate and past goaltender Philipp Grubauer, but the goal was given to Hintz. Regardless, the top line of Hintz, Robertson and Joe Pavelski continued to play very well for Dallas and figured heavily in the outcome of this game.

Seattle tied the game eight minutes later when Calle Jarnkrok took a quick pass from Marcus Johansson and one-timed it past goaltender Jake Oettinger on the power play for his third goal and fifth point in his last four games. Despite the Kraken’s losing streak, Jarnkrok and the power play have had success as of late.

The tie game lasted only a few minutes as the Hintz-Pavelski-Robertson line struck twice in two minutes to give the Stars a 3–1 lead heading into the first intermission. It turned out that goals by Pavelski at 11:00 and Robertson at 13:01 (on the power play) were all the Stars needed to come away with the win, but there were still two periods left to play.

The Kraken managed only five shots on goal in the first period to the Stars’ 10 shots.

The second period was much more tightly fought, as the shots were 8–6 in favor of Dallas, and each team added a goal. Seattle center Jared McCann cut the Dallas lead in half five minutes into the second frame, but Pavelski struck again with under two minutes remaining in the period to give the Stars back their two-goal lead.

As has been the case quite a few times this season, the Kraken came out in the third period and peppered Oettinger with 14 shots, but it was too little, too late. The Dallas netminder stopped all 14 shots, and Jani Hakanpaa scored an empty-net goal (his first of the season) with time waning to secure a 5–2 win for the home team.

As the final horn sounded, the Kraken had their seventh straight loss dating back to mid-December with the St. Louis Blues, winners of two in a row and seven of their last 10, on the agenda. If the Kraken cannot find a way to start gathering points real soon, their season may be essentially over before the all star break.

Anchor points

I cannot really fault Grubauer on most of the Dallas goals. The first one was off his own defenseman, the second was a bad bounce off the end boards, the third was terrible coverage in front, the fourth was a wide-open guy on the back door and (of course) the empty-netter. This is one of those games where only 20 saves on 24 shots looks bad, but the Kraken defense offered no help for their goaltender.

Jarnkrok will definitely get lost in this box score, but he has been as hot as any Kraken player and McCann is right there with him, putting up six points in his last four games. It is no coincidence that the Kraken have looked so bad since losing Brandon Tanev to injury, though.
He was the heart of this team and they have looked mentally checked out since losing him.

William Borgen and Carson Soucy were the whipping boys of the night, giving up 10 chances as a pair. Luckily, they failed to give up any goals, which could have made this one really ugly.

If you break it down by the numbers, the Kraken outplayed Dallas. All possession metrics favored Seattle and their forward lines were all over 52% in total shots. I hate to beat a dead horse, but this loss falls squarely on defensive coverage problems.

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 55%–45%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 55%–47%
5-on-5 High-danger chances for 53%–47%
5-on-5 Expected goals for 54%–46%
Face-off percentage 52%–48%

The Kraken are right back in action tonight against the St. Louis Blues, in St. Louis. The puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Stars score early and often in win over Kraken appeared first on The Rink.

Huge slate of games today. Let’s dive head first into my picks:

Dallas Stars (+148) vs. Boston Bruins (-175)

O/U: 5.5 +107

The Bruins’ home opener in TD Garden should be electric hockey. The “perfection line” of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak are back and ready to dominate the NHL. I like Boston’s forward depth and their defense is solid. The only question is how their goaltending will fair with Rask still recovering from offseason surgery. 

Dallas beat the Rangers on Thursday night in overtime. Call me out if you want, but I’ve never been a fan of Dallas’ forward group. It feels like they are missing a piece. But their blue line is legit and can shut teams down. 

My pick: Bruins 3-way -106. The Bruins have plenty of scorers up and down the lineup. If they run the score up, I don’t see Dallas closing the gap

New York Rangers (-108) vs Montreal Canadiens (-108)

O/U: 6 -107

Neither team has had the start to the season each was looking for. The Canadiens have been run out of the building in their first two, allowing seven goals while only netting just one in each contest. For their opponent, the Rangers responded after their loss in Washington in the season opener. They played the Stars tough and picked up a point. 

My pick: Rangers ML. Their offense is far and above better than the Canadiens, at least on paper. Goaltending is going to be a concern in Montreal until Price can return. The Rangers pick up their first win Saturday night. 

Calgary Flames (+118) vs Edmonton Oilers (-137)

O/U: 6.5 -109

Offense, offense, and more offense! There are a ton of goal scorers on both benches in this one. No need for a long explanation here. 

My pick: O 6.5. Pucks will be flying off sticks at a high rate in this one, with two teams who want to play fast and skate around or through you to light the lamp.

I will have a bonus play at 4:30 p.m. CDT on my Twitter, @ThomasGibbons_3.

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 — October 16, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

What team would shown up in Dallas and Florida after such an up-and-down showing? It ended up we got to see both.

Tuesday, March 9 — Chicago left seeing stars in Dallas

Blackhawks forward Mattias Janmark scored against his former team, which ended up being the only bright spot in a 6–1 beating at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Janmark’s goal gave the crafty winger nine markers this season but would cap off an otherwise difficult evening for the Stockholm, Sweden, native as he finished the contest with a -3 on the scoresheet.

Chicago starting goaltender Malcolm Subban displayed his regular lack of rebound control, his inability to find the puck in traffic on a regular basis and stopped only 31 of the 37 shots he faced. His defense in front of him was nothing to write home about either, but Subban spotted Dallas two goals before the Chicago tally shrunk the Dallas lead to 2–1. However, four unanswered goals later and Dallas finished off the Blackhawks 6–1.

With the lackluster showing this evening, this looked like the Blackhawks team many thought fans would watch on a more consistent basis at the beginning of the season, not the potential playoff team we have seen. A bounce-back game was a must, as the Stars chase the Blackhawks for that fourth place spot or the Central Division. 

Thursday, March 11 — Blackhawks do a lot with a little

“It’s not how, it’s how many,” said Chicago television analyst Eddie Olczyk on Thursday night about Chicago’s surprising four goals in eight shots at the time. The Blackhawks showed they could take advantage of poor goaltending by Stars’ netminder Anton Khudobin when scoring scoring on half their shots. As impressive of a stat as that can look, those eight shots came in the first 34 minutes of the game. Sometimes the game of hockey is unexplainable, but the Blackhawks were ecstatic to take two points from Dallas in this evening when they were able to hang on for a 4–2 victory.

Chicago jumped on the board when forward Dominik Kubalik scored his 10th goal on the season. First-year Blackhawk Carl Soderberg, a forward with excellent hockey IQ and has shown to be more than just a late signing to fill the void when Kirby Dach was injured, tipped home a shot by defenseman Adam Boqvist from the point, screening Khudobin and adding another power play goal to the impressive Blackhawk special teams this season.

Duncan Keith fired his first goal of the season, while the highly offensively skilled Alex DeBrincat buried his 15th of the season late in the second period to give Chicago a lopsided 4–0 lead. The Blackhawks looked to be in control of the game despite being outshot by more than three times by the Stars.

Boqvist gets it on net and Soderberg tips it past Khudobin!

2-0 Chicago! #CHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/hVQ8RVcR1e

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2021

The feel of the game changed dramatically when Dallas scored two goals midway through the third period to cut the Chicago lead in half at 4–2. Dallas registered a late push that a young Chicago team looked like it may crack, but goaltender Kevin Lankinen turned aside all the Dallas chances. At the end of the day, after a loud sigh of relief could be heard all the way back in Chicago, the road team won a game that was nothing if not underwhelming for the visitors. 

Lankinen stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced on the evening. A victory like Thursday night’s is proof that Chicago will continue to lean on their Finnish goaltender to stay in playoff contention. It was expected to see Lankinen back in net against Florida, and that is exactly what happened when Colliton faced off against former Chicago bench boss Joel Quenneville in south Florida.

Saturday, March 13 — Florida figures out Lankinen

Chicago jumped out to an early lead when winger Brandon Hagel finished off a nifty give-and-go with Kubalik finishing with Hagel’s second goal this season. The early lead would not last long, as Florida scored four straight goals—three coming in the second period of play—to give the visiting Blackhawks the 4–2 loss.

Imagine not loving hockey. #CHIvsFLA pic.twitter.com/wOAeOHpPSy

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 14, 2021

Boqvist scored Chicago’s late third period goal when the game seemed out of reach, giving the second-year Swedish native his second goal this season. Chicago’s late push would come up empty and Chicago did not have an answer for Panther goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Analysis

The middling Blackhawks stand as middle-of-the-pack as they could at 14–9–5—some would say 14–14 overall—and continue to struggle at 5-on-5 to generate much offense. Without solid goaltending from Lankinen, a dynamic duo of DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scoring nightly and an inconsistent defensive group, Chicago may not cling onto fourth place in the Central Division.

Chicago’s next five games consist of one more game against the Florida Panthers before traveling across Florida for another two-game series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Chicago then travels home for two more games in Chicago against the Panthers to close out a difficult stretch of games. If the “Jekyll” Chicago team shows up each night, Chicago should have some success against teams that are more talented against them. The “Hyde” Blackhawks would probably be an indication that the last playoff spot in the division could slowly be slipping away.

The post RECAP: Chicago sneaks out lone victory in three underwhelming efforts appeared first on The Rink.

After being down 1-3 in their series against the Stars, the Avalanche did the miraculous — they came back and forced a game seven. And they did it with their third string goalie and without lineup staples Matt Calvert, Erik Johnson, or Joonas Donskoi. But do they have what it takes to finish off the series?

Games four and five both saw one team dominate the first period then go on to win the game. Game six, on the other hand, was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period. The real story of the game — and indeed, of the series so far — is the Avalanche’s utterly impotent power play. Their last goal with the man advantage was in game four. They are 1/16 on the power play over the past three games. The Stars allowed them five power plays in game six, including a four-minute double minor, but the Avs failed to capitalize. The Stars, on the other hand, are 5/13 on the power play through those same three games.

Nathan MacKinnon continued his ongoing point streak in game six with one goal and one assist. Mikko Rantanen did the same. The two forwards now lead the league in playoff points. Defensemen Cale Makar and Nikita Zadorov each tallied a goal as well, helping secure the victory.

It's Cale Makar!

The ROOKIE puts the #GoAvsGo on TOP.

Presented by @NewAmsterdam pic.twitter.com/9sDGNeLaXJ

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) September 3, 2020

If the Avs hope to advance to the conference championship, they need to capitalize on their power play chances and stay out of the box. It sounds like a cliche, but special teams may end up making the difference in this series. And the Avs need to stay grumpy. Being downright pissed off has definitely worked for them these last two games.

Bednar says the #Avs still remain grumpy and are not happy with where they remain in the series. #Avs

— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) September 2, 2020

Player(s) to watch:

On the Avalanche side, there are rumors that Matt Calvert may return to the lineup tonight. Although Logan O’Connor has played well in Calvert’s stead, Calvert’s grit has been sorely missed. And of course, all eyes will be on third-string goalie Michael Hutchinson, who’s surpassed all expectations so far.

On the Dallas side, rookie forward Denis Gurianov and defenseman Miro Heiskanen have 13 goals and 20 assists between them and lead the Stars in points. Minimizing their chances tonight will be critical.

There are few things more exciting in sports than a game seven! If things go Colorado’s way tonight, the Western Conference Championship is scheduled to begin on Sunday. 

The post Game Preview: Can Avs advance to Conference Championship? appeared first on The Rink.

Similar to Game Five, the Avalanche chose to play goaltender Michael Hutchinson who was backed up again by Hunter Miska.  Conor Timmins drew into the lineup once again but unfortunately Matt Calvert was still held out.  In goal for the Stars was Anton Khudobin, backed up by young Jake Oettinger as Ben Bishop was deemed unfit to play again.

Here’s how the game shook out.

First period

While it took awhile for both teams to loosen up, the story in the first period was faceoff wins and blocked shots.  The Stars won 67% of the draws and had 11 blocked shots in the first 20 minutes of the game.  The first big opportunity for the Avs came when Pierre Edouard-Bellemare took a high stick from Blake Comeau and drew blood so Colorado had four minutes of powerplay time.  Unfortunately, the Stars killed off all four minutes and limited Colorado to just a couple shots on goal.  The Avalanche had another minor penalty after Mikko Rantanen was taken down going to the net, but Dallas killed that penalty off, too.

On the defensive side, goaltender Michael Hutchinson made a huge save on Stars forward Radek Faksa as he was forced to slide from left to right to make sure a rebound didn’t go in.  But it was only a few minutes later when Miro Heiskanen scored on what should’ve been a routine save for Hutchinson.

Michael Hutchinson gets across to deny Radek Faksa. #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/SqfaJANQwQ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 3, 2020

But the Avs weren’t ready to end the period on that note.  With under a minute to go, Colorado defenseman Nikita Zadorov took a shot from the point through traffic and it found its way into the net past Anton Khudobin.  With the score tied at one, both teams headed into the locker room with shots also tied at 13 each.

During the intermission, Anson Carter talked about there being fewer scrums after the whistle.  Both teams were trying to be conservative and not commit any dumb penalties that would put their teams shorthanded.

Zadorov ties it up at 1 after 1 #GoStars v #GoAvsGo

LIVE on @SiriusXMNHL
- https://t.co/F3l2nu3fHT pic.twitter.com/wmIPJb3JZY

— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) September 3, 2020

Second Period

It was more of the same in the second period as the Stars still couldn’t stay out of the box, and the Avs still couldn’t score on the powerplay.  Jamie Benn and Corey Perry were called for minor penalties in the period, but Colorado struggled going 0-for-5 for the game.  Eight minutes in, Cale Makar found a rebound in the slot and put it high past Anton Khudobin, giving the Avs a 2-1 lead.  But more bad news would follow.  Conor Timmins would leave the game, leaving Colorado with just five defenseman to finish the game and captain Gabriel Landeskog left at the end of the period with an apparent leg injury.

It's Cale Makar!

The ROOKIE puts the #GoAvsGo on TOP.

Presented by @NewAmsterdam pic.twitter.com/9sDGNeLaXJ

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) September 3, 2020

Third Period

The Avs got to work early in the third period and provided goaltender Michael Hutchinson with some insurance with a goal by Mikko Rantanen.  The assist came from Nathan MacKinnon who extended his playoff point streak to 14 games.  After that goal, Dallas started turning up the heat finishing every check and putting tons of pressure on the puck.  But the Avalanche held on to their lead and got back the captain Gabe Landeskog who returned from the locker room.

With under ten minutes to play, the Avs went to the penalty kill after Stars forward Jason Dickinson received a high stick.  They did a great job blocking shots and making sure the Stars didn’t have any open lanes.  As time dwindled down to three minutes left, Dallas pulled their goalie but that didn’t end well.  Nathan MacKinnon recovered a loose puck and sent it down for the empty net goal, sealing the game for the Avs at 4-1.

MacKinnon and Rantanen are just so disgusting together pic.twitter.com/5mGyC4ktsW

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) September 3, 2020

What’s next?

Holy cow, that’s all I can say.  It’s been quite the series and will be remembered as an instant classic, but this is far from over.  Friday night, the Avalanche and Stars play each other one last time in a win or go home game to advance to the Western Conference Finals.  The stage is getting bigger each game and although Colorado keeps getting setbacks with injuries, they keep moving forward.  Hold onto your hats folks, we’ve got a game seven coming our way!

The post Avalanche force game seven after pivotal 4-1 win over Dallas appeared first on The Rink.

Defenseman Erik Johnson and left winger Matt Calvert remained unfit to play and were replaced in Colorado’s lineup by Colorado Eagles players Conor Timmins and Logan O’Connor. Both goaltenders Philip Grubauer and Pavel Francouz were also missing tonight for the Avalanche, the former having sustained a groin injury and the latter currently unfit to play per Coach Jared Bednar. In place of Francouz, Michael Hutchinson started in net for the Avalanche, with fellow Eagle Hunter Miska available as backup netminder.

Dallas also made an unexpected goaltending decision prior to the game, starting Ben Bishop in net over Anton Khudobin.

Period One

At just 4:37 into the period, Pierre Bellemare opened the scoring for Colorado on a breakaway pass across the slot from Logon O’Connor, who collected his first NHL playoff point on the assist. Shortly after, the Avalanche went on their first power play of the game when Stars’ winger Alexander Radulov was called for hooking. As they had in previous games, Dallas blocked multiple shots and left Colorado scoreless when playing with the man advantage. The Avalanche, however, quickly demonstrated that scoring goals does not require an extra man on the ice when halfway through the period, Andre Burakovsky picked up a rebound off of a shot from Cale Makar that gave the Avalanche a 2–0 lead.

Thank you, Bellemare!

(And a first playoff point for O'Connor, too!)#GoAvsGo https://t.co/IYEOGjANVm

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

In the three minutes that followed, Colorado scored three more even-strength goals. The first was from Nathan MacKinnon, who received a pass from JT Compher and clapped the puck into the back of the net from high in the slot. The goal extends MacKinnon’s playoff point streak to thirteen games and places him fourth in line for the longest point streak to begin the NHL playoffs, behind only Bryan Trottier, Mark Messier, and Bobby Orr.

The next goal came from Nazem Kadri, who continued in Game 5 to fight for goals and pick up loose rebounds. He grabbed a bouncing puck on what should have been a save by Stars goaltender Ben Bishop, and after putting Colorado up 4–0, the Stars replaced Bishop with Khudobin. A net change did not appear to be what Dallas needed, however, because less than a minute later, Mikko Rantanen deflected the puck into the net after a drive and backhand shot by defenseman Samuel Girard. The Avalanche ended the period up 5–0, and two late penalties meant they would begin the second period playing with a 5–3 man advantage. The period also ended with Colorado up 23–5 in shots on goal.

So, that was fun!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/haOW9NpfRg

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

Period Two

The ability to carry their momentum from one period into the next was something the Avalanche had struggled with in previous games against the Dallas Stars, and while period two did not result in five unanswered Colorado goals, the Avalanche nonetheless maintained their lead. Dallas killed Colorado’s power play for a second time and proceeded to score on a goal from Joe Pavelski at 7:50 into the period. The team appeared to gain some momentum, taking the fight to Colorado’s defense, drawing penalties, and attacking the net. The second period saw eight total penalties from both teams, the Avalanche taking two for unsportsmanlike conduct from both Kadri and Girard.

After a second Stars goal by Miro Heiskanen on the power play, it seemed like Dallas was building the kind of momentum that had enabled previous multi-goal comebacks against Colorado. Bednar’s decision to place Burakovsky on the top line with MacKinnon and Rantanen, however, proved beneficial for a second time tonight when MacKinnon dished the puck to Burakovsky on the right faceoff circle, whose one-timer kept the Avalanche ahead of the Stars and ended the period with a 6–2 Colorado lead.

We're kinda digging Burky and MacKinnon on a line together!#GoAvsGo https://t.co/S0mbuqsEiw

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

Despite six power play opportunities, all of Colorado’s goals in the first and second periods were scored at even strength.

Period Three

The final period continued to see numerous penalties from both sides. Both Blake Comeau and Pavelski left the ice early with ten-minute misconduct penalties, and on a five-on-four Dallas power play with 5:48 left in the third, Jamie Benn scored a goal to cut Colorado’s lead in half. Dallas then pulled their goaltender to no avail, and the Avalanche beat the Stars 6–3, sidestepping elimination and continuing their race for the Stanley Cup. Colorado’s defense blocked 24 shots, and goaltender Michael Hutchinson saved 31 of the 34 shots he faced.

What’s Next

The Avalanche look to tie the seven-game series against Dallas in Game 6 on Wednesday, September 2^nd. The Avalanche will need to limit their penalties in Game 6 and focus on taking advantage of their own power-play opportunities. A loss in Game 6 would mean elimination for Colorado, so fans should expect the players to take to the ice Wednesday with the same urgency as they did today.

The post RECAP: Avalanche score five goals in first period, extend series against Stars appeared first on The Rink.

First period

Just when you thought the Avalanche would come with the energy they had in game three, they sleepwalk through the whole first period of game four.  The game started with the Avs on the powerplay but it was lethargic and they could not even get through the neutral zone.  The Avs did not register a shot on that powerplay and they would not get one until the 18 minute mark of the period.  Yes, you read that right.  Pavel Francouz did not have his best period either, allowing three goals on 10 shots.  Two of them were on the Dallas powerplay, one scored by Radek Faksa on a rebound in front of Francouz and the other on a Jamie Benn redirect.  The period concluded with Dallas up 3–0 and leading in shots 10–5.

Patrick Sharp of NBC Sports said it best after the period ended.  “The Dallas Stars came out angry and there was no response from the Avalanche.”  Anson Carter elaborated saying that “the Stars wanted to drag Colorado into a street fight,” and they did.

Power. Play. Precision. #GoStars strike AGAIN on the man advantage. #StanleyCup | @DallasStars pic.twitter.com/sCriMXk5lc

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 30, 2020

Second Period

The Avalanche woke up in the second and quickly came back to get even with the Stars in shots on goal with 14 early in the period.  Both teams were checking hard and seemed to trade minor penalties throughout the period.  At times, Avs coach Jared Bednar was double-shifting Nathan MacKinnon to ignite some sort of spark while they still trailed the Stars 3–0.  Thirteen minutes into the second, it was Val Nichushkin who got the Avs on the board first, cleaning up a shot from the point by Cale Makar.

Nichushkin getting this train rolling #GoAvsGo https://t.co/MnwxMoh8cU

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 30, 2020

And after a pivotal penalty kill that sent Nathan MacKinnon to the box on an interference call on the Stars’ Corey Perry, the Avs found themselves on a 5-on-3 with under a minute left in the 2nd period.  Colorado called a timeout which followed a powerplay goal by Cale Makar, drawing the Avs within one goal of tying the game.

BACK IN IT!

Cale Makar makes it a ONE-GOAL game. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/KrBDC4HfMl

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) August 30, 2020

Third Period

There was energy from both teams to start the third, but it was the Avalanche who would have a couple of miscues that would cost the.  The first was a tripping penalty that led to a Roope Hintz goal, giving the Stars another two goal lead.  Moments after, Cale Makar collected the puck behind the net, but somehow he lost it in front of Francouz who was scored on easily by Denis Gurianov making it again a three goal lead.

With under ten minutes in the period, Val Nichushkin scored his second goal of the game on a deflected wrist shot, but it was not enough for the Avs to complete the comeback.  Even with a late goal by Vlad Namestnikov, the Avalanche fell to the Stars 5–4 and now trail Dallas 3–1 in the series.

The @Avalanche get one back on a bit of a weird one. #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/gw14ygZ5YM

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 31, 2020

What’s next?

It will be a quick turnaround for this series as game five is on Monday at 7:45 pm MT.  The Avalanche, who were one of the favorites all year to compete for the Stanley Cup, now face elimination in the second round.  You can look at the key injuries to Philipp Grubauer, Erik Johnson, and Matt Calvert, but this should not be an excuse.  The Avs had to play a gritter playoff-style game to match Dallas, but they failed.  They have one more chance to fight for pucks, or else they will have to wait until next season.

The post Avalanche fall to the Stars 5-4, face elimination Monday appeared first on The Rink.

Colorado did come out strong initially, scoring two early goals and dominating early gameplay, but they suffered multiple penalties in the second period which the Stars capitalized on, resulting in four unanswered goals before the end of the second. And, despite a valiant effort by backup goaltender Pavel Francouz, the Avalanche now look to play from behind in their race for the Stanley Cup.

Starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer and defenseman Erik Johnson did not play and, per Bednar, are out indefinitely. In place of Johnson, the Avalanche pulled Eagles defenseman Kevin Connauton into their lineup, who worked hard but could not quite fill the role of Samuel Girard’s defensive partner. Forward Matt Calvert was a scratch for both Game One and Two against the Stars and continues to be day-to-day.

First period

Colorado began the game by putting pucks on net at every single chance they were given, and the scoreboard reflected their intensity. Dallas committed their first of nine penalties at just 5:54 into the period, and the Avs’ top line did not disappoint. Less than 30 seconds into the power play, MacKinnon slapped a beautiful saucer pass from Rantanen into the back of the net. The goal tied MacKinnon with Joe Sakic and Marian Stastny for the longest playoff point streak in franchise history.

Nathan MacKinnon wires home Mikko Rantanen's perfect saucer pass pic.twitter.com/w65AgPQ76Q

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) August 25, 2020

The Avalanche continued to put pucks on net in the period, with good shot attempts by Ian Cole and exceptional saves by Francouz. A double penalty for roughing on Gabriel Landeskog and Mattias Janmark generated no goals, but the Avs ultimately outshot the Stars 20–6 in the period. They put bodies in front of Stars goalie Anton Khudobin, dominated the crease and killed all three of Dallas’ first-period penalties.

Second period

The quick and aggressive Colorado team from the first period carried over into the first half of the second. After a slashing call on Joe Pavelski against MacKinnon, MacKinnon slipped a pass to Rantanen from behind the net, who shot it high above Khudobin’s right shoulder, and the Avs scored their second power-play goal of the game for a 2–0 lead.

Mikko and Nate on the power play.

It's like we've heard it before!#GoAvsGo https://t.co/RfwNp4Z0a5

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 25, 2020

After the goal, however, the Avalanche’s luck seemed to roll only downhill. The Stars attempted to dislodge a puck that Francouz had already covered, and a fight broke out that resulted only in a slashing penalty on Girard against Corey Perry. Then, at 9:43 into the second period, Cole committed an interference penalty against the Stars, and Pavelski and Radek Faksa scored two goals on the ensuing power play to level the score at 2–2.

The penalties from both teams did not stop there, but Colorado could not capitalize on any of their power plays and the game began to look chippy. At 15:34 into the second period, Dallas deflected a shot into the net over Francouz, putting the Stars up 3–2. With less than three minutes left in the second, Nazem Kadri—who has excelled in the playoffs for the Avalanche this season—left the ice after blocking a shot. He returned to the bench at the start of the third period, ruling out a serious injury. The Stars scored again shortly after, and although the goal was challenged by the Avalanche’s coaching staff, the referee review resulted in a good Dallas goal. The Stars ended the period with a 4–2 lead and having closed the shots-on-goal gap significantly.

https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1298100905678692355?s=20

Third period

Despite hopes that the Avalanche would come out swinging in the third period, and despite two Dallas penalties that led to good Avalanche power play opportunities, Colorado continued to choose the extra pass over available shot attempts. The team looked visibly frustrated at times, and despite bursts of physicality and defensive hustle, they could not close Dallas’s goal lead and finished the game down 5–2 after an empty-net goal by Jamie Oleksiak. Although a couple of Stars goals seemed reliant on luck and bad puck bounces, the Avalanche defense ultimately could not immobilize the Dallas offense, and missed shot opportunities resulted in an Avalanche loss.

What’s next

With the Stars up 2–0 in the series, Dallas and Colorado face off for Game Three on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MDT. Colorado will be playing from behind and looking to close the two-game deficit. Defenseman Erik Johnson will likely miss Game Three as well, and fans should expect Colorado to step up their defensive play in his absence. On stat watch is Nathan MacKinnon, who has scored at least a point in all 10 games the Avalanche have played this postseason and continues to climb the record boards.

The post Despite goals from MacKinnon and Rantanen, Avalanche fall to Stars in Game Two after five unanswered Dallas goals appeared first on The Rink.

The 5–3 loss to the Stars on Saturday was a result of many things, not least the fact that half of the team seemed to be asleep on the ice. The defense was unable to communicate and the defense was unable to get firing, with the notable exception of the top line, who scored all three of the Avalanche goals.

Bednar says “half the team” were passengers

— Adrian Dater (@adater) August 23, 2020

On top of those problems, Saturday saw two Colorado players injured. Defenseman Erik Johnson left the ice twice during the game in pain and will be doubtful for Game Two. In addition, goalie Philipp Grubauer suffered a lower-body injury during period two, leaving Pavel Francouz to take over in net. Given Grubauer’s history with lower-body injuries, the remainder of the playoffs may be Francouz’s time to shine. Matt Calvert was also a sudden scratch for Game One.

The Avalanche should be going into Game Two with something to prove, which has historically served them well. The flaws from the last game can be addressed, as they mostly came down to the fact that the team was not fully engaged with playing the game. With a more cohesive defense and more presence from the bottom three lines, there should be quite an improvement.

The question of the full lineup is still a mystery, as someone will need to fill Johnson’s spot if he is indeed unable to play. A few names have popped up here, as the Avs brought a number of additional defensemen with them to the bubble, including young prospective players Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins. They also have more familiar names in Mark Barberio and Kevin Connauton, both of whom logged minutes with the team this year.

Players to watch

With Grubauer out indefinitely, Francouz will need to step up big going forward. He only has one official full playoff game under his belt, though he also played in one of the round robin games. That round robin game, coincidentally, was a shutout against the Stars. Francouz also played in Colorado’s sole loss against the Coyotes, allowing two goals. While it would be nice to see the same Francouz we saw during the first game against Dallas, there will still need to be a considerable defensive effort to back him up.

Miro Heiskanen has had quite a run so far in the playoffs for the Stars, posting 13 points in 10 games. He had an assist on one of the goals against Colorado in Game One and will likely be a large contributing force in Game Two. His contributions mainly come in the form of assists, so the Avalanche will need to shut down his opportunities to set up plays.

Miro Heiskanen already has 10 assists this postseason

The franchise record is 12

This kid's good pic.twitter.com/AshruYkhCR

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) August 23, 2020

Despite it still being early in the series, Colorado needs to come out firing and tie the series here. Allowing Dallas to take a two-game lead will only serve to bolster their spirits, while an Avalanche win can rekindle the fire that saw them close out the series against Arizona.

Game Two will be at 7:45 p.m. MDT on Monday.

Calvert day-to-day, Grubauer is out indefinitely, EJ not expected to play tomorrow

— Adrian Dater (@adater) August 23, 2020

The post Preview: Avs look to battle back in Game Two appeared first on The Rink.

Before the game started, lineups showed that Vladislav Namestnikov was back in the lineup after sitting a few games under concussion protocol, but Matt Calvert was a scratch.  Calvert is a big part of the Avs’ bottom six forward group and provides a certain “sandpaper” that gives the team a lot of energy.  He was even in a scrap with Stars captain Jamie Benn earlier this year.

Make sure you check out our series preview of the Avalanche vs Stars in the second round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

First period

The Avs didn’t get off to the start that they wanted to with the Stars, as Dallas took control in the first few minutes.  They had a plan to take Colorado’s strength out of the game, which is their great skating ability.  The Stars dumped the puck in behind Philipp Grubauer and began to cycle, wearing out the Avalanche defenseman.  After just four minutes, the Stars scored their first goal on a pass from behind the net from Benn to Tyler Seguin.  Within a minute of the Stars’ first goal, Nathan MacKinnon answered back, striking on a wrist shot through some traffic that Dallas goaltender Anton Khudobin never saw.

We just don't have anymore words for Nathan MacKinnon (@Mackinnon9). #StanleyCup

: https://t.co/GDNbGpS3tW @NHLonNBCSports
: https://t.co/Uu61IdqCuU @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/v9s05SXM9h

— NHL (@NHL) August 23, 2020

Some bad new came in the middle of the period when Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson blocked a shot and fell awkwardly in front of the net.  He made it back to his feet but opted to skate to the bench gingerly, knowing it wasn’t just a bruise.  The Stars continued putting on pressure and the puck eventually found it way to the back of the Avs net on a redirected shot from Blake Comeau at the point.

But the Avs weren’t going away.  MacKinnon made a nice pass to Gabriel Landeskog on what should’ve been the Avs’ 2nd goal of the game, but Khudobin made a great post-to-post save.

We call that Dobbery #GoStars pic.twitter.com/ve6NEc01bu

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) August 23, 2020

The Avs didn’t look great the rest of the period as they continued to turn over the puck in the neutral zone and simply didn’t have an answer for Dallas’ offensive game.  Within the final minutes of the first period, Samuel Girard dumped the puck in and chased it into the Dallas zone, which resulted in a Dallas odd-man rush.  Benn found Alexander Radulov right in front of Grubauer, who then put the Stars up 3-1.  The period ended with Colorado leading Dallas in shots 13-7, but Dallas seemed to have the advantage so far in all phases.

Second Period

To start the second period, it was nice to see Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson back on the bench, who had left the game in the first due to an apparent leg injury.  Unfortunately for the Avs, another player would leave the game in the second period.  Going for a pad save, Grubauer looked to over-extend and went down in agonizing pain.  Play stopped as he had to be helped off the ice, with Pavel Francouz coming on the ice in relief.

Scary moment as @Avalanche' Philipp Grubauer goes down in pain and is helped to the locker room. Pavel Francouz is now in net. pic.twitter.com/GfV0jc51z0

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 23, 2020

The Avalanche looked like they got some extra motivation after Grubauer went down as they were skating hard and putting a lot of pressure on the defense.  After a long shift in the Dallas zone, MacKinnon shot the puck from the point and the puck found Landeskog, who scored his first goal of the postseason.

Landeskog makes it a one goal game! It's 3-2 !!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/WzbJ1RSLBj

— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) August 23, 2020

The goals continued to pour in, as it was Dallas’ turn.  Seguin carried the puck through the Avs’ zone on a two-on-one and fired the puck low on Francouz.  The rebound came to Radulov, who put home his second of the game, giving the Stars another two goal lead.  Later in the period, Johnson took another spill and left to the tunnel again.  And just before the end of the second period, both teams took minors and it was four-on-four for two minutes.  The Avalanche got possession in the Dallas zone and MacKinnon redirected his second goal of the game off of a Girard shot.

What would @BrianBoitano do? @Mackinnon9 with a triple toe loop double redirection. pic.twitter.com/fryksQ9VAc

— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) August 23, 2020

Third Period

It was back and forth action for the first ten minutes of the third period as the Avs tried to even the game at four.  But it was Roope Hintz that broke the ice, giving the Stars a 5-3 lead.  Dallas continued to cycle in the Avalanche zone, grinding away at the game clock.  They finished all their checks and were always in on the forecheck.

In the final five minutes, the Avalanche pulled their goalie but the Stars held them until the final buzzer.  The game ended with the Avalanche leading in shots 31-30.

What’s next?

Game two will be on Monday at 7:45 PM MT and, if the Avalanche want to even up the series, they will need to find another level.  The Dallas Stars aren’t the Arizona Coyotes.  They’ve shown that they can score seven goals in a game too, plus they play a heavy style game.  If you’re Colorado, you have to watch the tape and see how you can come out and adjust.  It’s clear the Stars are taking away the neutral zone from the Avs so they can’t penetrate on the rush.  They Avs may also have to find a replacement for Erik Johnson if he’s unable to go for game two.

The post Philipp Grubauer injured in Avalanche 5-3 loss to Dallas appeared first on The Rink.

In a must-have game for the Blackhawks, they were dominated early by the Stars. At one point in the first period, the Stars were outshooting the Blackhawks 10-4. With Corey Crawford fighting for his life, the Stars finally broke through. The defensemen of the Blackhawks failed to put a body on veteran winger Joe Pavelski, who picked up juicy rebound for the first goal of the game.

Put it away, put it away, put it away now. #CHIvsDAL | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/Thx3EMK9cF

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 23, 2020

The Blackhawks were lucky to escape the first period trailing by only one goal. In the second period, searching for their first goal of the game, The Blackhawks drew a penalty on the Stars. On the ensuing faceoff, Dominik Kubalik scored a goal off the faceoff or did he?

GOAL!

No goal?

Kubalik scores off the draw but an interference penalty is called on Toews.

Alrighty then.#CHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/YlTC5Vhi7W

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 23, 2020

After having a goal waved off due to a controversial penalty, the Blackhawks had to regroup and refocus on tying the game. Soon after, Kubalik blasted a laser past Stars goalie Anton Khudodin. It was Kubalik’s 26th goal of the season and his 20th goal in his last 33 games.

Patrick Kane to Dominik Kubalik, who buries his 26th goal of the season. Lethal shot. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/j3Ot3BjaTA

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 23, 2020

Kubalik was one of the highlights of the game yesterday. Later in the second period, Stars forward Tyler Sequin got loose in front of the net and snuck a puck past Crawford to give the Stars the lead. With the Blackhawks reeling from the Seguin goal, Duncan Keith hooked Mattias Janmark with three minutes left in the period. Janmark was awarded a penalty shot.

Crow vs. Janmark

Advantage: CROW pic.twitter.com/kZulRDAi83

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 23, 2020

Crawford stonewalling Janmark ended the second period and provided one of the biggest bright spots of the game. In the third period, the Blackhawks tried to mount a comeback but were unavailable to solve Khudobin for the second time of the game. The Blackhawks fell to the Stars 2-1.

The Blackhawks will return to action against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

The post Along The Boards: Blackhawks outshined by Stars 2-1 appeared first on The Rink.

Saad — Toews — Nylander

DeBrincat — Dach — Kane

Kubalik — Kampf — Shaw

Smith — Carpenter — Highmore

Keith — Gustafsson

De Haan — Seabrook

Maatta — Murphy

Crawford

First period

The Stars got off to a good start against the Blackhawks, putting pressure on Crawford and generally controlling the puck for the first couple of shifts. They continued to press, sending the puck back to the d zone and then back up again. Zack Smith recorded a great opportunity off a steal in the offensive zone, but was stopped by the Stars’ Anton Khudobin. Denis Gurianov got in a good chance on Crawford, but was ultimately shut down and was unable to get much on the shot. Crawford continued to stay sharp, stopping a barrage of shots from Dallas.

Both teams kept things moving, trading chances back and forth, and not allowing really any stoppages in play. Jonathan Toews got a blast in on Khudobin on a pass from Alex Nylander, but that was turned aside as well. Off the face off, Erik Gustafsson took a shot that was redirected by Brandon Saad, who was left all alone in front of the net and redirected the puck past Khudobin for a 1–0 Blackhawks lead.

Brandon Saad's 100th goal with the #Blackhawks was a BEAUT! pic.twitter.com/U9DvVdxZky

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 27, 2019

Just after, the Stars got a good chance with Corey Perry driving to the net, but that was turned aside by Crawford. After that, there was more back and forth, with some big hits being dished out both ways until both sides got some good chances, with Esa Lindell drawing a penalty on his drive to the net, putting the Blackhawks on the penalty kill for the first time in the game. Ryan Carpenter gave him a whack trying to keep him from being able to get a good shot off.

The Blackhawks killed that off without much issue, but with some nice saves made by Crawford. Khudobin had to make a last second save on Andrew Shaw, but did so to keep the score at 1–0 Blackhawks.

Second period

The Stars got off to the same start that they did in the first period, controlling much of the play and getting many shots in on Crawford, even having one go off of the post. Then, things got going back and forth more and more, with few stops for the first few minutes of the period. The Blackhawks got a good chance in front of the net off of a steal by Patrick Kane, but the Blackhawks could not get anything in on goal. Afterward, Alex Radulov got going through the center of the ice and was taken down by Shaw, giving the Stars their second powerplay of the game. Crawford came up with some sensational stops as the Blackhawks were able to kill off the penalty.

The Stars kept the pressure on after that, though, getting more shots on the Blackhawks’ goaltender. Just after the 10-minute mark of the period, the Blackhawks were able to get a couple of good chances from Dach and Kubalik after that which did not get past Khudobin. Calvin de Haan saved a goal for the Blackhawks after Crawford dove to make a stop with the puck sitting behind him without him realizing it. De Haan knocked the puck away, playing goalie with Seabrook to protect the net with Crawford drawn out of it.

The C in Calvin stands for CLUTCH! pic.twitter.com/x8FBWnEiIw

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 27, 2019

Khudobin had to be on his game to keep a Shaw chance out, followed by a DeBrincat chance at around the 15:30 mark of the period. The Blackhawks kept the pressure up, taking the puck away in the offensive zone and allowing for some good scoring opportunities on Khudobin that were turned aside. There was a lot of action, but no more goals to be had. The game went into the intermission with the score still being 1–0 Blackhawks.

Third period

The Stars came out with fire as they had the last couple of periods, stealing some chances and getting a good amount of play in the offensive zone. That is until DeBrincat took the puck down the ice to get a puck in on Khudobin. Shaw and Gustafsson got a couple of good chances in on the Dallas net that were turned aside by Khudobin with some great saves.

Then, there was more back and forth as there was the whole game, with the Blackhawks and Stars trading chances on one side of the ice and then the other. Crawford managed to keep out a flurry of Dallas chances out of the net. The Blackhawks continued to press to add on to their lead, but were stymied by Khudobin with a couple of big saves against the fourth line. Around the nine-minute mark, Crawford answered back on the other end, and then Khudobin would answer at his end of the ice.

Shortly after, Radulov gave the Blackhawks their first power play of the night when he got a stick up high that caught Toews right in the face. DeBrincat started a crazy sequence on the power play, with the puck eventually finding its way to Kane, who waited until some traffic had cleared in front of the net to wrist it past Khudobin, making it 2–0 Blackhawks.

The point streak continues! That's 13 straight games for Showtime pic.twitter.com/5p8iYAaCOG

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 27, 2019

The Stars pulled their goaltender at the 16:27 mark of the period in an attempt to get back into the game, but that backfired when the Stars tried to block a clear from Connor Murphy, which ended up bouncing and rolling down the ice and into the empty net, making it 3–0 Blackhawks. That is how things would finish, with the Blackhawks getting Crawford his first shutout of the year.

The Blackhawks will be heading into a tougher stretch of their season, with back-to-back matchups with the Avalanche on Friday and Saturday night. The first of those two games is on Friday at 3 p.m. CST on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks extinguish Stars 3–0 appeared first on The Rink.

7 p.m. CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starting goaltenders

Chicago — Corey Crawford (4–5–2, .914 save percentage, 3.02 goals against average)
Dallas — Anton Khudobin (8–5–1, .926 save percentage, 2.25 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (12.5%, 28th)
Dallas (12.8%, 27th)

Penalty kill
Chicago (80.7%, 18th)
Dallas (85.0%, Seventh)

Shots for/against
Chicago (30.7, 20th; 37.0, 31st)
Dallas (30.8, 19th; 30.4, Fourth)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (9.4%)
Dallas (9.1%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (49.0%, 22nd)
Dallas (52.8%, Fourth)

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Andrew Shaw
Ryan Carpenter — Kirby Dach — Zack Smith

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Connor Murphy

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn — Justin Dowling — Tyler Seguin
Denis Gurianov — Joe Pavelski — Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano — Radek Faksa — Roope Hintz
Mattias Janmark — Jason Dickinson — Corey Perry

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak — Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera — Roman Polak

Analysis

It is deja vu for the Blackhawks as they once again take on the Dallas Stars. In their last meeting, Robin Lehner turned in another Herculean effort. He made 40 saves on 41 shots during regulation and overtime. Lehner’s Achilles heel reared its ugly head on Saturday night in Dallas. Historically weak in the shootout, Lehner continued that trend this season. Lehner did not stop a single shooter during the shootout. Despite poor shootout results, he now leads the NHL in save percentage with a .938 save percentage.

On a night when the Blackhawks needed their high-octane offense to get off the ground, they sputtered with only one regulation goal, which was Olli Maatta’s first of the season. The Maatta goal did help extend Patrick Kane‘s season-long point streak. The streak now stands at 12 games and he will be looking to continue the streak tonight.

Despite all the impressive numbers from Lehner, though, Chicago will turn to Corey Crawford on Tuesday, as the Blackhawks continue to generally adhere to their goalie rotation. Now, Crawford has not been a slouch in the net. He has played better than his season averages as of late, going 3–1–2 with a 2.50 goals against average and .933 save percentage.

The major difference between the last two meetings will be Crawford in net and rest. While the Blackhawks have not played a game since Saturday night, the Stars defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas last night and will be playing in their third back-to-back this season.

The troubling thing for the Blackhawks is that the Stars’ offense got rolling against the Golden Knights. Alexander Radulov netted himself two goals and John Klingberg had three assists. With Ben Bishop getting the start against Vegas, the Blackhawks figure to see Anton Khudobin in net again. Khudobin allowed one goal on 39 chances and no goals in the shootout. His 38-save effort tied a career-high for Khudobin and was his second 38-save game this season.

Can the Blackhawks solve Khudobin this time around or will Khudobin continue his impressive play?

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars appeared first on The Rink.

Corey Perry celebrated his 1,000th NHL game on Saturday in Dallas. The forward spent the majority of those 1,000 games in Anaheim with the Ducks but has rebounded this year with a change of scenery. 

Congratulations, Corey! #GoStars pic.twitter.com/HvrucYkL8z

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 24, 2019

The Blackhawks rolled out their lines and the lineup looked very similar to many of their last five games. The lines were as follows:

Saad – Toews – Nylander
DeBrincat – Strome – Kane
Kubalik – Kampf – Shaw
Smith – Dach – Carpenter

Keith – Gustafsson
de Haan – Seabrook
Maatta – Murphy

Lehner

First period

The early portion of the period was a lot of back and forth between the two teams, but not a lot of quality chances were generated. The best chance of the first ten minutes came from Corey Perry. On the night of his 1,000th game, he could have put the Stars ahead early. Instead, he just flat out missed on his attempt to bury a puck with Lehner out of position.

Although Perry could not bury his chance, the Stars still struck first. Around the 14-minute mark, the Stars won a key faceoff in the Blackhawks’ zone. John Klingberg, in his first game back from injury, wired a shot through traffic that was tipped in front by Roope Hintz and ultimately found its way behind Robin Lehner. 

Roope and Klinger were skating together a lot coming back from injury.

They combine for the first goal in their first game back. #CHIvsDAL | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/EYpp3x86BG

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 24, 2019

Although the Stars dominated the period, the Blackhawks found a way to capitalize on an A+ opportunity. On a play that started with Connor Murphy getting the puck up the boards, Patrick Kane tipped the pass further to Alex DeBrincat. “The Cat” led the charge up ice with Olli Maatta and had a two-on-one. DeBrincat and Maatta played catch, but the final move came from Maatta, getting his shot to squeak past Anton Khudobin to tie the game. The goal was the first as Blackhawk for Maatta.

Olli Määttä scores first goal of the night for the #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/fpJYpAECO1

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 24, 2019

Patrick Kane picked up the secondary assist, extending his point streak to 12 games. Kane has been sensational all season thus far. 

Despite how bad they played, the Blackhawks went into the first intermission tied at one. An excellent position to be in given how much the Stars dominated the first period. 

Second period

The period began with the Stars having a quality chance against Robin Lehner in the first minute. The Stars had a bit of a two-on-one. Jamie Benn, who coming into this game was riding a four-game point streak, failed to convert on the chance after the puck went off the toe of his stick.

The Blackhawks first excellent chance came via a power play in which DeBrincat was tripped by Blake Comeau to initiate the man advantage. The Blackhawks didn’t score on the power play, however, they dominated possession on the power play. They won every draw in the offensive zone, and only had to regroup once or twice before moving the puck around and getting shots on net. 

It’s safe to say if every Blackhawks power play looked that good all the time, they’d be much better statistically. 

On the other end of special teams, the Blackhawks killed off the first power play for the Stars in beautiful fashion. The Hawks killers swarmed the Stars and constantly applied pressure, leaving the Stars searching for answers as they were unable to generate any meaningful chances on their first man advantage of the evening. 

After the Hawks kill, the remaining five minutes of the period featured another Dallas Stars power play. However, seven seconds into the man advantage, Joe Pavelski was sent off for hitting David Kampf in the face. The roughing penalty resulted in four-on-four hockey for the remainder of the period. 

With ten seconds remaining, Jonathan Toews drew a penalty on Miro Heiskanen for holding. Toews had the puck for a good 20 seconds, skating circles around the Stars defenders without losing the puck. The penalty set up a four-on-three for 50 seconds. 

The teams entered the second intermission with about 48 seconds of four-on-three time remaining. The Blackhawks looked much better in the middle frame than they did in the opening frame, registering 13 shots during the period. 

Third period

The final frame began with an unsuccessful power play for the Blackhawks. Despite starting with the man advantage, they could not generate any meaningful offense. Instead, Dallas gets out of a sticky situation unharmed. 

About two and a half minutes into the period, Khudobin made the save of the game, completely doing the splits to make a save on Dominik Kubalik, who had a wide open cage. The Hawks had a few follow-up chances, but Khudobin was able to shut the door. 

Absolute ROBBERY by Dobby. #CHIvsDAL | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/UzLGBLC3rR

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 24, 2019

The best chance for the Stars in the period came on a power play after a David Kampf delay of game penalty. The Stars had a great sequence and nearly capitalized, but the Blackhawks penalty kill stood tall and Lehner made two excellent saves to keep the home team from taking the lead. 

With three minutes remaining, it appeared the Hawks had taken the lead in Dallas after a Dylan Strome deflection on a Maatta shot. However, the play was waved off immediately for a high stick and after review it was confirmed.

Dylan Strome's goal is disqualified due to having a high stick. #Blackhawks still tied 1-1 pic.twitter.com/SerEEw3sO2

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 24, 2019

The game indeed required overtime, and the Stars and Blackhawks entered overtime tied on the scoreboard and in almost every team statistic.

Overtime

The Blackhawks took possession first as Toews, Kane, and Keith took the ice first for the visitors. A Hawks turnover led to a Heiskanen breakaway, but Toews was able to break up the chance and force a turnover. 

An excellent individual effort from Patrick Kane nearly ended the game. Kane stole the puck from a Dallas defender and took off, creating a breakaway for himself. Unfortunately, Kane couldn’t capitalize. It hurt even worse because the Hawks were called for too many men on the ice after that chance. The Stars took their timeout before heading to the powerplay.

The Blackhawks killed the penalty, despite great chances by Dallas. Andrew Shaw had a semi breakaway just before time expired and looked to be tripped, instead, nothing was called and Shaw was furious. It appeared to be a penalty, but the game entered the shootout. 

Shootout

One shooter for Dallas, one goal. Joe Pavelski scored on the first shot of the overtime. Toews matched that by missing on his move to tuck the puck past Khudobin. 

The second Dallas shooter, Tyler Seguin, also scored. Both goals were five-hole on Lehner. Patrick Kane also missed on his chance and the Stars took the game in the shootout, 2–1. 

Quick hits

• Lehner looked good: Although he is not a shootout goalie, Lehner looked incredible during actual hockey play. He has continued to keep the Hawks in games and there is no denying that he may have been the best free-agent signing this past summer for any team in the league. The Stars had 15 high-danger chances in this game, 10 of them came in the first period. He only let one in. Yes ladies and gents, that’s really good. 
• Good penalty kill: The Blackhawks penalty kill looked sensational all night. The final powerplay in overtime allowed a lot of chances, but Lehner stood tall. If the kill can look like they did tonight all season, they will be in good shape going forward. 
• First one feels good: Olli Maatta scored his first goal as a Blackhawk tonight on a nice two-on-one with Alex DeBrincat. Maatta has improved every game with the Hawks and is proving to be a nice addition to this defensive group. Maatta also nearly had an assist on Strome’s high stick redirect goal. 

The Blackhawks will host this same Dallas Stars team on Tuesday, November 26 at the United Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks fall 2–1 to Stars in shootout appeared first on The Rink.

7:00 p.m. CST
American Airlines Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

Projected starting goaltenders

Chicago — Robin Lehner  (5–4–2, .934 save percentage, 2.52 goals against average)
Dallas — Anton Khudobin  (8–5–1, .926 save percentage, 2.25 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (13.2%, 28th)
Dallas (13.6%, 27th)

Penalty kill
Chicago (79.7%, 18th)
Dallas (84.3%, 7th)

Shots for/against
Chicago (30.1, 21th; 36.8, 31st)
Dallas (30.3, 20th; 30.0, 26th)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (9.8%)
Dallas (9.5%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (48.9%, 22nd)
Dallas (52.9%, Fourth)

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Andrew Shaw
Ryan Carpenter — Kirby Dach — Zack Smith

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Connor Murphy

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn — Justin Dowling — Tyler Seguin
Denis Gurianov — Joe Pavelski — Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano — Radek Faksa — Roope Hintz
Mattias Janmark — Jason Dickinson — Corey Perry

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak — Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera — Roman Polak

Analysis

Once the Blackhawks were riding a wave of confidence only have it hit a crescendo and come crashing down. In their second of two losses, the Blackhawks followed a similar formula. The team was outplayed for two periods only to fall short in the third period. Despite falling short again, there were some positives to come out of the loss. Patrick Kane extended his point streak and reached another career milestone, 600 career assists. In addition to Kane, Corey Crawford strung together another strong outing, he made 31 of 34 saves. Crawford will get tonight off as Robin Lehner gets the start against the Dallas Stars. It will be the seventh consecutive game where the Blackhawks will alternate goalies.

The Blackhawks will have a tough challenge in the Dallas Stars, tonight. The Stars are playing impressive hockey as of late going  6-0-1 in their last seven games. In addition to being a very hot team, the Stars are getting healthy. Both John Klingberg and Roope Hintz back from injury. Klingberg and Hintz will be joining a red hot Radek Faksa, who xenters tonight’s game on a career-high eight-game point streak. If Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin can finally get going for the Stars, the Western Conference better watch out.

Will the Blackhawks losing streak stop at two or will the Stars continue to shoot into the sky?

The post Preview/Game Thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars appeared first on The Rink.

Corey Crawford was back between the pipes for Jeremy Colliton, while Dallas head coach Jim Montgomery went with his rock-solid backup, Anton Khudobin. Colliton also sat Marcus Kruger and Carl Dahlstrom.

This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Drake Caggiula – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Brendan Perlini
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Dominik Kahun
Chris Kunitz – David Kampf – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Slater Koekkoek – Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling – Connor Murphy

Period one
Both teams spent most of the opening period feeling each other out, with the Blackhawks getting a majority of the shot and scoring chances. The goalies at each end were solid and held each other’s team off the scoreboard.

The period remained 0–0 until there was 3:15 left in the first period. A really nice stop at one end of the ice by Crawford was turned around the other way by Kane into an improbable 1-on-3 goal. Kane took it upon himself to lug the puck into the Stars end while his team made a change and snapped a puck between the legs of Dallas defenseman Justin Dowling and past Khudobin.

That’s pic.twitter.com/onsmDA9stQ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 6, 2019

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That goal was Kane’s 43rd of the year, which put him three short of his career high of 46, in 2015–16.

Dallas took a late penalty prior to the period end that rolled over into the second and the Blackhawks led in shots on net 9–6 as they went into the first intermission

Period two
The Blackhawks’ power play rolled over into the second period and they even had a short 5-on-3 advantage, but the home team cold not strike on either power play.

Just prior to the midway point of the of the second period, Crawford was replaced by backup Cam Ward. Crawford was responding gingerly after a slightly awkward save he made in the first period and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

At the 8:49 mark of the period, Saad used a burst of speed to get an open look on Khudobin, but the Stars goalie was able to square up and make the stop. Kahun, however, shoveled the rebound into the net for his 13th goal of the year.

Two minutes later, Kunitz picked up another loose puck in front of Khudobin and chipped it toward the goal line. The puck flipped and flopped towards the goal line but the call on the ice was no goal. The situation room checked the replay and ruled that the puck did indeed cross the line, giving the Blackhawks a 3–0 lead and making for a fun celebration with the veteran forward at the bench in what might be his final NHL game.

Absolutely one my favorite “good goal” reviews of all time! Kunitz!
pic.twitter.com/dicaGKA0E9

— Niko From the T.O. (@NikoFromTheTO) April 6, 2019

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With under two minutes remaining in the middle period, Strome was in the right place at the right time, and out-waited Khudobin long enough to give the Blackhawks a 4–0 lead on Strome’s 20th goal of the season. With an assist on the play, Gustafsson eclipsed the 60-point plateau, as well.

After an eventful second period, the teams each at 14 shots on net, but it was the Blackhawks up big.

Period three
The goal flurry carried over into the third period when Koekkoek put the Blackhawks’ fifth goal of the game past Khudobin just 44 seconds into play.

We’re no geometry wizards but that angle looks cute, er, acute #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hIZOmGYtFX

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 6, 2019

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As happens with the Blackhawks this year at an epic rate, the Blackhawks lost the shutout with 13 minutes left in regulation, on the penalty kill. It was clear the Stars would score eventually, with the Blackhawks’ penalty kill giving up opportunity after opportunity. Joel L’Esperance finally slammed a wide open back door chance into the back of the net.

The cherry on top of the sundae was Kane’s 44th goal of the year with 3:49 left in regulation. He was sent in on a breakaway by a nice Caggiula snap pass. Khudobin was no match for the Blackhawks MVP candidate, as Kane beat him five-hole.

Goal No. 44
Point No. 109#Showtime pic.twitter.com/ru2hGzAiOd

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 6, 2019

When the final horn sounded, the Blackhawks walloped the Stars 6–1 while getting out shot 35–32.  The season wraps up tonight in Nashville at 7 p.m.

Pluses

• Kane is now just two goals from his career high, but he will have a rough time trying to pass that high in Nashville.
• Gustafsson getting his 60th point is noteworthy.
• 20 goals from Strome has been a nice surprise this year.

Minuses

• Not much to point and complain about other than Crawford getting injured.  Reports say that Kevin Lankinen will be recalled on and emergency basis to backup Cam Ward tonight.
• Okay, I was wrong. The penalty kill did what the penalty kill does: give up the only opposing goal of the game.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks stomp Stars 6–1 in home finale appeared first on The Rink.

7:30 p.m. CST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (14–18–5, save percentage: .907, goals against average: 2.96)
Dallas – Anton Khudobin (16–16–5, save percentage: .926, goals against average: 2.47)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (20.5 percent, 12th)
Dallas (20.5 percent, 14th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.1 percent, 31st)
Dallas (82.4 percent, Fifth)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.6, 11th; 34.6, 30th)
Dallas (30.5, 21st; 31.7, 18th)

Shooting Percentage
Chicago (9.9 percent, Ninth)
Dallas (8.4 percent, 28th)

Faceoff Percentage
Chicago (49.4 percent, T-20th)
Dallas (51.9 percent, Fourth)

Average height and weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197 lbs.
Dallas 6’2”, 207 lbs.

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dominik Kahun

Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Dallas Stars

Jason Dickinson–Tyler Seguin–Alexander Radulov

Jamie Benn–Roope Hintz–Mats Zuccarello

Andrew Cogliano–Radek Faksa–Blake Comeau

Mattias Janmark–Jason Spezza–Tyler Pitlick

Esa Lindell–John Klingberg

Miro Heiskanen–Roman Polak

Taylor Fedun–Ben Lovejoy

Analysis

Coming off their 4—3 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, the Blackhawks look to continue playing the role of spoiler as they welcome the Dallas Stars to the United Center.

The Stars enter play on Friday firmly cemented in one of the two wild card positions in the West. The Stars can’t move up, but they can certainly fall to the second wild card spot if the Colorado Avalanche continue to collect points.

The Blackhawks can play spoiler and aid in setting the Stars up to play the top seed in the Western Conference, the Calgary Flames. A tough matchup such as this one could spell a quick end to the Stars’ playoff run.

At this point, this game is essentially meaningless for the Blackhawks. They are too high in the standings to get a lottery pick (unless they luck out), so they will probably pick somewhere between 10 and 15.

That said, a team with nothing to lose is a dangerous team. The Stars need to be cautious on Friday night, otherwise, they could fall into the second wild card spot and be set for a date with the talented Calgary Flames, who may be the most complete team in the Western Conference.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs. Stars appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton continued to juggle the lines, a la his predecessor Joel Quenneville, perhaps either looking to generate some renewed chemistry or to make assessments for next season. A few eyebrows were raised by the elevation of thus far disappointing forward Dylan Sikura, Stan Bowman’s self-described “big trade deadline acquisition” from last year, to the top 6, playing with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad.

Chicago Blackhawks lines and pairings

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dylan Sikura

Dominik Kahun–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Corey Crawford faced off against Anton Khudobin in net for Dallas.

FIRST PERIOD

The Hawks took advantage of a Taylor Fedun turnover at the Chicago blueline, sending Kunitz and Kampf off on a 2-on-1 that Kampf finished at 5:10 of the period. 1-0 Chicago.

However, at 6:23, after a Sikuira turnover, Alex Radulov scooped up a fat Crawford rebound right in front of the Chicago crease and buried it. 1-1.

The period featured a fairly high tempo with some quality chances both ways. The tie was finally broken at 19:24, after Murphy blocked a shot, kicked the puck out to a racing Kane while face first on the ice, who then found Alex DeBrincat in alone on Khudobin, his 37th goal of the year. 2-1 Chicago.

Shots were 14-11 for Chicago.

SECOND PERIOD

The back and forth action continued into the second period, with both teams trading quality chances. The Hawks held an advantage in shots through much of the period,

Chicago had a power play for a Dallas delay of game at 13:02 that the Stars killed without the Hawks registering a shot on goal.

The period ended fittingly on a brilliant Khudobin save on Kahun, and a fine stop through traffic by Crawford at the other end. Shots were 15-8 in favor of Chicago.

THIRD PERIOD

The long scoreless stretch of this game continued well into the third period.  Midway through the period, shots were even at three a piece.

The Stars took yet another delay of game penalty at 15:25—clearly, it seemed the game would hinge on whether the Stars could kill the penalty then figure out how to dent Crawford in the remaining 2-plus minutes of regulation. They did kill it, and pulled Khudobin at 18:45.

The Hawks really couldn’t establish o-zone possession, until Brandon Saad, going for the empty net from his own blue line, iced the puck, giving Dallas a draw in the Chicago end. Ten seconds later, Stars forward Jamie Benn took a goalie interference call and that would ice the game for Chicago.

THE GOOD

Overall, the Hawks played a pretty solid game against a good team in their own building. Murphy, especially, was steady and effective most of the game—playing defense like an NHL defenseman should. Take note, Erik Gustafsson and Gustav Forsling. The Hawks kept their dwindling playoff hopes alive with the win, and gave themselves an example of how they should be trying to play the rest of the way and next year.

THE BAD

Opening the game with Saad and Toews, Sikura still appeared tentative and contact-shy. At some point, the Hawks may need to admit that this is a narrative that not even they can force right now.  Some players make the transition from college and/or the minors relatively quickly. Some, like Sikura, don’t. It doesn’t mean he’s a bust (necessarily). It probably means he has some physical maturation and accompanying confidence to gain in order to assert his game at the NHL level. And the question is, can he do that while also playing against the big boys and not getting meaningful results night after night?

THE UGLY

Crawford played pretty well, but briefly appeared a bit woozy after taking a hard shot to his mask in the second period. There is a plausible theory that in every game he plays now, Crawford has the potential for re-injury and risks long-term serious health problems.

All I have on this one. Please comment below.

The post Recap: Blackhawks down Stars in Dallas, 2-1 appeared first on The Rink.

7:00pm CST

American Airlines Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (8–15–2, SV%: .897, GAA: 3.40)
Dallas – Ben Bishop (22–14–2, SV%: .930, GAA: 2.13)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (21.3%, 11th)
Dallas (19.5%, 16th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.1%, 31st)
Dallas (82.2%, 6th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.3, 11th; 35.0, 30th)
Dallas (29.9, 24th; 31.7, 19th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.3%, 8th)
Dallas (8.5%, 27th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.5%, 20th)
Dallas (51.7%, 5th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Dallas 6’2” 208lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–John Hayden

Dominik Kahun–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Brendan Perlini

Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson

Dallas Stars

Roope Hintz–Tyler Seguin–Alexander Radulov

Jamie Benn–Jason Dickinson–Blake Comeau

Mattias Janmark–Jason Spezza–Brett Ritchie

Andrew Cogliano–Joel L’Esperance–Valeri Nichushkin

Miro Heiskanen–John Klingberg

Esa Lindell–Roman Polak

Taylor Fedun–Ben Lovejoy

Analysis

It’s tryout time for the Chicago Blackhawks. After last game’s line shake-up, it’s clear the Blackhawks are giving bigger roles to players such as John Hayden and Brendan Perlini as the season comes to an end. The playoffs for the Blackhawks are next to impossible, even after Thursday’s win against the Sabres. Now is the time to give a chance to some of the players who may be question marks heading into next season.

If it’s any indicator of what to expect, Brendan Perlini has been strong since re-entering the lineup on the west coast trip. He scored a goal on Thursday night and had two goals against the Kings a week ago. Perlini could be a bargain re-signing for the Blackhawks which could pay big dividends next season for their forward depth.

The Stars will come out strong on Saturday night against the Blackhawks. Their season is very much on the line, despite sitting comfortably in the first wild card spot. Dallas has only one point of cushion between them and the Minnesota Wild, but two games in hand, making Saturday night’s contest against the Blackhawks all that more important.  

Besides for the Wild, the Stars have to be concerned about the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche down the stretch. Both teams are less than five points back of the Stars, so the Stars cannot afford to let either one of those teams catch them. Colorado’s chances may have been impaired due to the injury to captain Gabriel Landeskog, who will be sidelined for four-to-six weeks.

A quietly pleasant surprise for the Stars has been the play of goaltender Ben Bishop. His 2.13 GAA is second in the league among qualifying goaltenders, as well as his .930 save percentage. He is tied for third in shutouts with 5 and has been the backbone of this playoff-bound Dallas team. In order for the Blackhawks to play spoiler, they’ll have to crack Bishop’s code and get pucks in the net.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Stars appeared first on The Rink.

Head coach Jeremy Colliton called upon Cam Ward as his starter in net. Dallas head coach Jim Montgomery started Anton Khudobin.

Chicago Blackhawks Starting Lineup
Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura
Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–John Hayden
Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling–Connor Murphy

PERIOD ONE
Both teams started the game slowly. A few icing and offsides whistles generated zero momentum from either team. Also, the matinee crowd still appeared to be asleep.

Dallas had the best opportunity early, as Dallas found themselves 4-on-2 but Cam Ward came up big with a save. With just over six minutes gone in the game, the teams were tied at 4–4 in shots.

After Slater Koekkoek lost his skate blade, the Stars took the lead when forward Radek Faksa scored his eleventh goal of the season. Faksa’s goal was assisted by newsy acquired forward Mats Zuccarello and center Jason Dickinson.

Mats Zuccarello gets his first assist as a Dallas Star as he sets up Radek Faksa for this breakaway goal. #GoStars pic.twitter.com/5Y5UzN6yf0

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 24, 2019

Dallas took a 2–0 lead at the 17:28 mark, when forward Alexander Radulov buried home his 17^th goal this season. The goal, assisted by defenseman Miro Heiskanen resulted from a horrible clearing attempt by Gustav Forsling up the middle of the Blackhawks’ own zone.

So pretty. Miro Heiskanen holds the zone and without hesitation, he sets up Rads right in front of the net for a 2-0 lead. #GoStars pic.twitter.com/gnN1LXh4vh

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 24, 2019

After the first period, Chicago led in shots 13–12 but were outplayed for most of the second half of the period.

PERIOD TWO
Zuccarello scored his first goal as a member of the Dallas Stars, at the 1:44 mark of the second period, to extend the lead to 3–0. The Norwegian buried a shot past Ward from a nice cross ice pass from center Tyler Seguin.

Welcome to the Stars, @zuccarello36! #GoStars pic.twitter.com/YpBkEiCk6k

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 24, 2019

Just over a minute later, Chicago finally dented the net when Chris Kunitz scored his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Marcus Kruger and Duncan Keith. Keith found a streaking Kruger along the left-half boards, who in turn, slid a nice pass to Kunitz between the circles.

Chris comes through!#CHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/ArdrPFeQkL

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 24, 2019

Drake Caggiula cut the Dallas lead to one with his eleventh goal of the season after an excellent pass form Keith. The goal went to review as the call on the ice was no goal initially. However, the hockey folks back in Toronto deemed it a goal.

FURTHER REVIEW of Drake Caggiula's goal in the 2nd period pic.twitter.com/Avqo1Q8WEq

— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) February 24, 2019

Chicago outshot the Stars 20–14 in the second period.

PERIOD THREE
Jonathan Toews tied the game 3–3 with a nice wrist shot whistled by Khudobin’s glove. The goal, Toew’s 29^th, was assisted by Gustafsson.

The Captain makes it happen! #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/94wNsaFH8O

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 24, 2019

Jason Spezza scored on a 5-on-3 power play after Chicago took a bench minor for too-many-men on the ice penalty, followed up by a tripping call on Keith less than a minute later. Spezza tipped in a nice pass from Radulov. The goal gave the Stars the lead back at 4 – 3.

SPEZZA!!! The Stars get a 5-on-3 and they make it count, as Radulov connects with Spezza for a PPG to give the Stars a 4-3 lead! #GoStars pic.twitter.com/jMP8IBUuX4

— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 24, 2019

Chicago found themselves on a four-minute power play to finish the game when defenseman Roman Polak drew blood on a high stick on Dominik Kahun. The Blackhawks saw a few “minor” chances swallowed up by Khudobin and could not even muster a shot after pulling Ward for the extra attacker.

Dallas not only won the game 4–3 but managed to keep Patrick Kane off the scoresheet, snapping his 20-game point streak. Chicago outshot the Stars 14–3 in the third period and 47–29 for the game.

THE GOOD
Chicago took 47 shots on goal, led by Patrick Kane’s seven shots. Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Saad and Cuggiula joined Kane as players with five or more shots in the game.

Falling behind 3 – 0 is never a recipe for success but the Blackhawks showed some character coming back to tie the game before ultimately falling short.

THE BAD
Chicago gave up another power play goal, which was the back-breaker in the third period. Dallas was 1-for-2 on the power play.

Gustav Forsling struggled with his zone exits, one turnover resulting in an easy goal for Dallas. Slater Koekkoek also struggled overall in the defensive end.

For a team that can give up 40 shots on any given night, Ward needed to be better only seeing 29 shots today.

Jamie Benn played only 1:19 but Chicago could not take advantage of the Stars forward being injured early.

Chicago needed four points this weekend against Colorado and Dallas and came away with zero.

The post RECAP: Chicago Comeback Falls Short, Lose To Dallas 4–3 appeared first on The Rink.

2:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Cam Ward (14–9–4, SV%: .894, GAA: 3.69)
Dallas – Anton Khudobin (11–13–3, SV%: .923, GAA: 2.56)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (22.3%, 9th)
Dallas (19.5%, 16th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.5%, 31st)
Dallas (81.9%, 7th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.9, 15th; 35.3, 30th)
Dallas (30.0, 23rd; 31.3, 16th)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.5%, 7th)
Dallas (8.4%, 27th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.6%, T18th)
Dallas (52.0%, T5th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
Dallas 6’2” 209lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun

Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura

Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–John Hayden

Duncan Keith–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson

Dallas Stars

Roope Hintz–Tyler Seguin–Alexander Radulov

Jamie Benn–Radek Faksa–Blake Comeau

Mattias Janmark–Jason Dickinson–Jason Spezza

Andrew Cogliano–Joel L’Esperance–Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell–John Klingberg

Miro Heiskanen–Roman Polak

Jamie Oleksiak–Taylor Fedun

Analysis

The Blackhawks dropped arguably the biggest game of the season on Friday night to the Colorado Avalanche. The Blackhawks are falling farther out of the playoff picture with every passing day. In order for the Blackhawks to have any hope at continuing their playoff push, they will need to beat the playoff-hopeful Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon.

Bright spot from Friday’s game was once again Patrick Kane, who now has extended his point streak to 20 games. There is no doubt that the Blackhawks will need Kane to keep up his superhuman season if they want to squeak in as a final playoff team. Other bright spots included Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome continuing their hot play since the turn of the new year.

Dallas is coming off the second game of their back-to-back after taking on the Hurricanes yesterday afternoon. The Dallas Stars have cooled of late after playing really good hockey around the all-star break. After winning five games in a row at one point, the Stars have since lost six of their last eight, allowing teams such as the St. Louis Blues to jump them in the standings.

Dallas needs a win on Sunday just as much as the Blackhawks do. The Stars hold on to the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a chance to catch the Blues for third place in the Central Division. To better their roster, the Dallas Stars acquired Mats Zuccarello from the Rangers after being shut out by the Hurricanes yesterday. The Stars hope that he can improve their offense as they look to hold on to a wild-card position.

The Blackhawks are one of the teams chasing the Stars, so a loss for the Stars would spell more worry as the Wild, Avalanche, Coyotes and Canucks are all still hovering in the wild-card discussion.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Stars appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks arrived in Dallas Thursday night for the second of three straight divisional matchups. Head Coach Jeremy Colliton hit the switch on the “line blender” once again upon the return of Gustav Forsling and Artem Anisimov. The line combinations were as follows:

Saad – Toews – Kahun

Strome – Anisimov – Kane

DeBrincat – Kampf – Sikura

Hayden – Johnson – Perlini

Keith – Gustafsson

Forsling – Seabrook

Dahlstrom – Murphy

Ward

With defenseman Henri Jokiharju being loaned to the Finnish World Junior team, Erik Gustafsson got a look as a top-2 defenseman.

First Period:

A mere 15 seconds into Thursday’s contest, Cam Ward faced his first quality chance. A John Klingberg wrist shot found its way behind Ward in the blue paint. Fortunately, Erik Gustafsson was in the right place at the right time and swept the puck back under his goaltender. A fast start for the Stars may have left some fans and players worried about Thursday’s outcome.

Soon after the Stars’ early chance, the Blackhawks generated one of their own. A set face-off play to the right of Ben Bishop worked to near perfection for the first tally of the contest. David Kampf tied up his defender after the face-off win as Dylan Sikura jumped on the puck. Sikura tapped a light pass to his fellow wing Alex DeBrincat as they criss-crossed around the dot. DeBrincat fired a rocket to the top corner for his 15th goal of the season.

The with his 15th goal on the year pic.twitter.com/DhZXX5OfvF

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) December 21, 2018

Brandon Saad created numerous quality chances early on. In the first five minutes of the period, Saad had two partial breakaways, nearly capitalizing on the first one. Saad lifted a backhand high on Bishop, who was in perfect position to make the save. Had he been a few inches shorter, it could have been a 2-0 Blackhawks lead.

Both teams traded chances throughout the period with both goaltenders making some incredible saves to keep the score deadlocked at 1-0. With 3:43 remaining in the period, Alexander Radulov was called for a clear slashing penalty, which sent Chicago to the power play for the first, and ultimately only, time of the game.

With just under a minute remaining on the Blackhawks man advantage, Patrick Kane fired a slapshot on Bishop from the left-wing side of the ice. The rebound came straight back to Kane as he quickly passed the puck across ice to Gustafsson on the opposite face-off dot. Gustafsson passed the puck back to DeBrincat at the point for a give-and-go, and Gustafsson fired the return pass glove side on Bishop. The Blackhawks took the 2-0 lead late in the first period.

GUS MAKES IT 2-0 #BLACKHAWKS (all caps necessary)

STREAM: https://t.co/x5jSvQYQk4 pic.twitter.com/wtOqMuRE09

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) December 21, 2018

Second Period:

The Blackhawks once again found life early in the period, similar to that of the first period. With less than two minutes of play gone, Connor Murphy found Artem Anisimov at the Stars’ blue line. As he began up ice he found a flying Patrick Kane cutting to the net and without any wasted motion, Kane beat Bishop on a backhand to the glove side to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

#88 scores the 25th goal of his career on the Stars…It's the most he has against any rival team.

It's 3-0 #Blackhawks on @NBCSChicago: https://t.co/x5jSvQYQk4 pic.twitter.com/F0cg9ARiGG

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) December 21, 2018

Nearly mid-way through the middle frame, the Stars big line of Tyler Seguin, Benn and Radulov generated zone time deep against the Blackhawks. Jamie Benn won a board battle against both Connor Murphy and Dylan Strome and found Tyler Seguin parked in front for the Stars’ first goal of the game. Seguin was able to sneak to an open spot, about five feet in front of Ward, and after a perfect feed from Benn, had no trouble finding twine with his opportunity.

The Stars found some more life late, as Jason Dickinson won a board battle against two Blackhawks, a play that looked eerily familiar after the first Stars goal. Dickinson found a crashing Stars defenseman for a high quality chance, but Cam Ward made an incredible save to keep the Blackhawks two goal lead.

Third Period:

The early portion of the period was highlighted with big saves from Ward and Bishop. A post saved what could have been the Stars’ second goal, and the game remained 3-1 after five-plus minutes into the final frame.

With just under fourteen minutes remaining, Alexander Radulov took a puck in behind the net and flipped a harmless backhand toward Ward. Benn was out in front and created a bit of a scrum with Blackhawks defenders, at that moment, the puck trickled to the other side of the blue paint where defenseman Taylor Fedun tapped home the loose puck to cut the Blackhawks lead in half. Cam Ward was looking for a goaltender interference call on Jamie Benn, but he did not receive it.

The Blackhawks continued to pepper Ben Bishop for the remainder of the period but could not find the back of the net with any of their opportunities. With two minutes remaining, the Stars pulled Bishop for an extra attacker.

At that time, the Blackhawks gained possession and had a two-on-two chance after it looked like a Stars player collided with the linesman. Patrick Kane found the puck at the Stars’ blue line and walked into the zone to score his second goal of the game on the empty net.

Soon after Kane’s goal, the Stars won a face-off and immediately turned the puck over to the Blackhawks. Brendan Perlini out skated both Stars defenders to tap home the second empty net goal and Perlini’s second as a member of the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks take the victory in Dallas by a 5-2 final score.

Quick Hits:

• Cam Ward has been very good the last two games for the Blackhawks. He has put the team on his shoulders after the awful injury to Corey Crawford, who could be done for the year, and possibly his career, after yet another concussion. If he continues to play like this, the Blackhawks may steal some big games as we approach late December.
• Brandon Saad was very noticeable again, despite not showing on the scoresheet. He is generating offense for himself and will hopefully have a month similar to that of his November. Saad posted 8 points in 11 games for the month.
• Jeremy Colliton has really put former head coach Joel Quenneville to shame with his blending of the lines. Now that he is approaching twenty games as Blackhawks head coach, he seems to have settled on certain players playing certain roles. Ideally, some of these lines would be allowed to gel more and perhaps create even better outcomes for the rest of the season.

The Blackhawks have no time to rest as they take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight in Denver. Puck drop is set for 8:00pm CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Down Stars 5-2 in Dallas appeared first on The Rink.

7:30pm CST
American Airlines Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Cam Ward (5–5–4, SV%: .888, GAA: 3.95)
Dallas– Ben Bishop (11–8–1, SV%: .922, GAA: 2.35)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (12.0%, 30th)
Dallas (21.1%, 14th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (72.3%, 31st)
Dallas (83.0%, 7th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.9, T-14th; 34.2, 28th)
Dallas (29.7, 24th; 31.0, 13th)

Shooting %
Chicago (8.8%, 27th)
Dallas (9.3%, 20th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (50.0%,T-14th)
Dallas (51.6%, 9th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Dallas 6’2” 205lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dominik Kahun
Dylan Strome–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–David Kampf–Dylan Sikura
John Hayden–Luke Johnson–Brendan Perlini
Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn–Tyler Seguin–Denis Gurianov
Valeri Nichushkin–Devin Shore–Alexander Radulov
Radek Faksa–Martin Hanzal–Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark–Jason Dickinson–Blake Comeau
Esa Lindell–John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen–Gavin Bayreuther
Roman Polak–Taylor Fedun

Analysis

Chicago played their best game of the season, Tuesday at home, defeating the Nashville Predators 2 – 1. The Blackhawks played a solid 200-foot game and may have seen their first “goalie win” in over a month.

Not only did the defense show vast improvement in their own zone, the back end scored both goals. Gustav Forsling and Erik Gustafsson found the back of the net, supplying some much needed scoring depth.

Cam Ward is expected in goal in net tonight. The 34-year old goaltender is coming off a 30-save performance. Ward does have a surprising won/loss record (5 – 5 – 4) considering .888 save percentage and 3.95 goals against.

The Blackhawks have a difficult time this season putting solid performances together. Chicago has not won back-to back games since defeating the New York Rangers 4 – 1 on October 25.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com. 

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Stars appeared first on The Rink.