Here is the different from last year lineup the Blackhawks rolled out on opening night:

#Blackhawks lineup ahead of Opening Night:
Moore-Kantserov-Kane
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Mangiapane
Donato-Nazar-Lardis
Smith-Greene-Greenway
Teravainen

Vlasic-Byram
Kaiser-Levshunov
Cole-Rinzel
Korchinski-Del Mastro

Knight
Soderblom

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 28, 2026

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First Period:

In the first period, the Blackhawks looked like a team that wasn’t really prepared for the firepower of the Golden Knights. After only a minute of play, Andrew Mangiapane took a tripping penalty behind the Vegas net, giving the home team their first powerplay of the game. They weren’t able to capitalize on the opportunity, but they received another for a big time miscue on the Blackhawks’ part. Lack of communication led to a too man men on the ice call, putting the Golden Knights on the man advantage halfway through the period.

This time, they would get a goal from Victor Olofsson on a wrister that got past Spencer Knight. It wasn’t a great goal to let up from Knight, as he got beat over the glove side on that shot. Almost five minutes later, the Knights would get another one past Knight. This one was due to no one clearing the front of the net at all. Rookie Trevor Connelly parked himself in front and cleaned up a rebound from a Brayden McNabb shot for the first of his career. Vegas would take this 2-0 lead into the intermission.

Second Period:

After the first eleven minutes of the period being more of a back and forth, with Vegas getting almost all the chances and Knight proving up to the task of stopping them, the Blackhawks finally broke through. After Wyatt Kaiser got his stick on a puck in the neutral zone, the puck found its way to Jordan Greenway. He skated into the zone with Ryan Greene and took the shot on goal, wristing it right past Carter Hart for his first as a Blackhawk.

Wyatt Kaiser jumpstarts the goal by getting his stick on puck in the neutral zone: pic.twitter.com/ZY9SSEcJmy

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) September 30, 2026

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Vegas got a goal back a couple of minutes later. With Jack Eichel parked in front of the net, Ivan Barbashev found him from behind the net. He put the puck over the pad and in the back of the net, 3-1 Vegas. Once again, we would head to the intermission with the Golden Knights up by 2.

Third Period:

Four minutes into the third, Showtime had arrived. Patrick Kane got rocking and rolling into the offensive zone. He took the puck from Parker Wotherspoon in the middle of the ice. He out-waited Hart and wristed the puck right over him, 3-2 Vegas.

Showtime: Patrick Kane scores in his first official game back with Chicago. Unreal. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/z8iViR5GCJ

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 30, 2026

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After some vintage Patrick Kane, Blackhawks fans were surely hopeful that the team could get some more offense going to get back into this game. That wouldn’t happen, however, as just thirty-nine seconds later, the Golden Knights would get a goal back. With some great passing, the puck found its way to Noah Hanifin. He put a wrister right under the blocker of Knight, making it 4-2 Vegas.

Mark Stone would deposit an empty netter to seal this one, giving the Golden Knights the season opening victory.

Analysis:

As the periods went on, the Blackhawks got better. They started off from horrible, and then to bad, and then to decent, but have a ton to work on this season. We knew this wasn’t going to be right back to the playoffs for them, but some sloppy defensive play is not going to help cover up for any possibly miscues that will happen. This team does need to get better at covering the net and paying attention to where defenders are. The Eichel goal caught everyone watching the puck instead of watching their player they were supposed to defend, along with the Connelly goal in the first.

Hopefully, the physicality that showed up at times in this game comes to the fore more the rest of the season, as this hit by Sam Rinzel shows that they have the ability to push back against good offense with good defense if they use their size to their advantage.

What a hit by Sam Rinzel. Wow. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hFJylM0kwK

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 30, 2026

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The Blackhawks’ next game is on Thursday night against the Utah Mammoth. That game will be at 8:30 pm central on ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks drop season opener 5-2 in Vegas appeared first on The Rink.

— Goaltender Alex Stalock made 36 saves on 37 shots, which should be more than enough to win. The only goal he gave up was a wicked shot on a 2-on-1. This one is on the Blackhawks’ offense.
— Speaking of offense, the Blackhawks had 27 shots on Vegas goalie Logan Thompson, which should have generated at least one goal. Props to the letfy in the Vegas net.
— The Blackhawks had their chances. Andreas Athanasiou had a breakaway, and there were quality chances from Tyler Johnson, Connor Murphy, Taylor Raddysh, and several others.
— The Blackhawks did not give up any more power-play goals after giving up four the night before in Colorado.
— Chicago led in face-off percentage, this time by a more slim margin at 51%.
— Those baby-poop colored Vegas jerseys stink.

The Blackhawks will have today off to travel to San Jose, California, to face the Sharks on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 p.m. CDT.

The post Blackhawks Post-Game One-Timers – 10/13 Vegas Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Making/ their first appearances since early in the season were Kraken goalie Chris Driedger and forward Marcus Johansson. Driedger was injured in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 18, while Johansson was injured opening night against the Golden Knights.

Seattle some out early in the first period and did something that they have rarely done this season, which was score a power play goal. Jordan Eberle narrowly snuck a backhand past Vegas goalie Robin Lehner on a goalmouth scramble. This was only the Kraken’s fourth power play goal of the season, which has them tied for second-worst in the NHL.

Ebs, back at it again with the backhand!

That’s SEVEN goals in his last seven games! pic.twitter.com/7sFxQj4j7L

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 10, 2021

The celebration and lead almost made it to the first intermission, but Golden Knights star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo walked the blue line and used Jaden Schwartz as a screen to surprise Driedger, sending the teams into the first intermission tied at 1–1.

This was the only period that the Kraken were outshot, with Vegas holding an 11–7 lead. Seattle outshot Vegas 20–12 in the second and third periods, but were outscored 3–1 in the final two periods of play.

In what turned out to be a surprising second period, each team scored in the final minute of play. After some tough work along the boards, Yanni Gourde buried a feed from Brandon Tanev past Lehner with 30 seconds remaining. Just 15 seconds later, though, Vegas veteran forward Evgenii Dadonov poked a fat rebound past Driedger to tie the game at 2–2 heading into the third period.

The Kraken might wish they could have just taken the mulligan and the tie, as Vegas forward Reilly Smith came out and scored two goals in his first shift of the third period to give the home team a comfortable two-goal lead. After 18 more minutes of play, that was how the game ended. The final score was 4–2, and the Kraken dropped another opportunity to make ground in their division.

Anchor points

This is starting to sound like a broken record, but goaltending failed the Kraken once again. They only surrendered 23 shots, which is ideal, but gave up four goals, which is flat-out bad. They are 10th-best in shots faced, yet they are last in overall save percentage at .871. This needs to be corrected quickly.

The Kraken were not as good in possession for this game. They led in shot attempts (53% Corsi), but were out-chanced in unblocked shots (48% Fenwick) and high-danger chances (36%). The only reason they were not completely underwater was the line of Johansson, Joonas Donskoi and Morgan Geekie, which was 71% Corsi and 67% Fenwick at 5-on-5.

The Kraken are off Wednesday and will host the Anaheim Ducks Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Vegas scores three in 1:32 to hand Kraken second loss in a row appeared first on The Rink.

Goalie Chris Driedger will make his return from the injured reserve list and start opposite Robin Lehner.

Ryan Donato and Colin Blackwell are still out, but Marcus Johansson will make his first appearance since opening night following an injury.

new law is Marcus Johansson only plays in Kraken games in Vegas

— Marisa Ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) November 9, 2021

Game day lines (via Marisa Ingemi) are as follows:

Jaden Schwartz — Alexander Wennberg — Jordan Eberle
Marcus Johansson — Morgan Geekie — Joonas Donskoi
Brandon Tanev — Yanni Gourde — Calle Jarnkrok
Max McCormick — Riley Sheahan — Nathan Bastian

Jamie Oleksiak — Mark Giordano
Carson Soucy — Vince Dunn
Adam Larsson — Jeremy Lauzon

Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter: @TheRinkOfficial, @TheRinkSeattle, @KrakenHostile and @PuckinHostile.

The post Kraken Anchor Points — Golden Knights game day appeared first on The Rink.

Nathan is so fast he leaves an Avalanche of snow behind him #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/MNiD89LU4q

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 9, 2021

There were several occasions where MacKinnon did breakthrough and found daylight through the neutral zone, but the Golden Knights clogged the shooting lanes well, making it difficult for MacKinnon to create chances for his teammates. Mikko Rantanen was having the same issues as well. Gabriel Landeskog was the only top-line player that was not playing on the top line, so he was able to maneuver a little better on second line with Valeri Nichushkin and JT Compher. Together, they made some strong plays and had scoring opportunities that simply did not land in the back of the net.

And, while MacKinnon is the Avalanche’s best player, it cannot all fall on his shoulders to carry the team all the time. But, in a pivotal Game 5 during the biggest moments, you expect more from your stars.

Logan O’Connor was very noticeable. It was his first game back returning from injury, but you would not have guess it. When he played on the fourth line earlier in the season, you could tell he provided something to the Avs that they do not usually get. And, with Matt Calvert sidelined, O’Connor looked to give some energy to his club that got out-played the last pair of games.

While it was interesting that Jared Bednar slotted O’Connor on the third line, it was even more of a surprise that Brandon Saad was moved up to the top line. Saad has been a bright spot for the team and has kept the Avs in a lot of games in this series.

Here are some more notes from the Avs’ Game 5 loss to Vegas:

• Ryan Graves had seven scoring opportunities with none of them landing in the back of the net. The Avalanche were looking to their defensemen to play a big part in the scoring opportunities given the Golden Knights were shutting down the forwards.

Ryan Graves should study the concept of SHOT SELECTION. Still cannot believe that he would take the same bad, shin pad shot two consecutive times in OT. Frustrating loss because Colorado played a great hockey game. pic.twitter.com/hRI8o2rMAZ

— Avalanche Forever (@citchmook) June 9, 2021

• It was evident that Marc-Andre Fluery was struggling in the net. He gave up a lot of rebounds and did not seem to be on top of his game.

Wonder if I can squeeze this into tomorrow’s episode of Dang-Its

pic.twitter.com/luOSCq4YZe

— Drew Livingstone (@ProducerDrew_) June 9, 2021

• For the first two periods of hockey, the Avalanche looked more in control than they had in their two losses to Vegas in Sin City. Colorado was forechecking and forcing turnovers in the Vegas zone.

#Avs storming the house right now, doing everything they haven't done in last two-plus games. Puck pressure. Extremely physical. Forcing turnovers. Still 1-0, now 8:18 left in 2

— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers) June 9, 2021

• Bednar said in his postgame press conference that he was happy with the team’s play, except for those few turnovers which made the difference in the game.

Jared Bednar: "I think you have to work through mistakes; it's a game of mistakes.

"I will say this: I loved the way we played tonight. We were on our toes, we were playing to win a hockey game, we played to our identity."#Avs

— Scott MacDonald (@0ffScottFree) June 9, 2021

Coach Bednar: "I thought O'Connor was hard, heavy, on pucks, using his grit and tenacity, as well as his speed…he did exactly what we needed him to do."#Avs

— Scott MacDonald (@0ffScottFree) June 9, 2021

• Landeskog nailed it in his press conference after the game when he said the team needs to be ready for Game 6.

Gabe Landeskog: "We don't have much time to do anything but rebound and forget about this.

"We have to go to Vegas and win a hockey game. It's as simple as that."

— Scott MacDonald (@0ffScottFree) June 9, 2021

The Avalanche are now in a make-or-break situation. They play in Vegas on Thursday night. Win and they come home to Colorado for Game 7. Lose and they go home again in the second round.

No one said beating the Vegas Golden Knights would be easy, and for the Avs, it is a real test of their ability to play Stanley Cup-winning hockey if they can make this a series, and win it.

The post Notes from Game 5: Where in the world is Nathan MacKinnon? appeared first on The Rink.

According to Hockey Reference, the team coming away victorious in the fifth game when the series is tied 2–2 wins the best-of-seven series 78.8% of the time. These kind of odds should make a team wake up and smell the coffee, especially after a lackluster appearance. The Avalanche are looking for some kind of momentum since defenseman Cale Makar scored to take a 2–1 lead in Game 3 with only 15 minutes left in the game. Colorado seemed to be in charge and on the brink of going up 3–0 and looking to have a stranglehold on the series. Boy, how things have changed.

In the wake of a great four-year run by center Nathan Mackinnon, big-time players need to step up in big-time situations. Ask any team that has won in the past decade (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles): Your best players need to show up in the biggest moments. There is no better time for MacKinnon to show he can lead his Presidents’ Trophy-winning team to the third round of the playoffs.

The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native has registered 13 points in only eight playoff games this season, but none will be as big as the ones he can put up in Game 5 back in Denver. Forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen are important in helping MacKinnon, but do not drive the team’s heartbeat like MacKinnon can and does. Multiple-Stanley-Cup-winning forward Brandon Saad has done his best to show the scoring depth that helps win a series or two in a playoff run; now it is time for MacKinnon to show why he is in the argument as the top player in the league. On the defensive end, Makar has shown he can play with the best in this league and can chip in all over the ice. However, none are as important as MacKinnon.

The good news for Avalanche fans is head coach Jared Bednar will have last choice when sending a line over the boards. This should allow Colorado the opportunity to get the matchups they look for in the offensive and defensive zones. Bednar has done an excellent job this season getting his top players matched up and showing the secondary scoring options can make noise against other team’s top players. This will also allow Colorado the opportunity to try and keep some sustained pressure in the Vegas zone, something that was non-existent in the last three games, even the 3–2 overtime win by Colorado in Game 2. Much of the Avalanche pressure has come off the rush and resulted in a “one-and-done” attack in the offensive zone.

It is not easy to point a finger at the top player on the top team. However, MacKinnon can and should shoulder the load in the remaining games of the series. If Colorado wins at home in Game 5, MacKinnon will look like the possession-driving monster he showed in the regular season and Game 1 of this series. If he can do that, Colorado should be tough to beat at home and take a stranglehold on the series. If not, Vegas’ stingy style of defense may be the end of Colorado’s hopes when they fly back to Nevada on the brink of elimination. With all the momentum all but gone, Colorado would have a hard time winning the last two games of the series.

So, who needs to get out of the second round more? No doubt it is Colorado. The Avalanche have worked their plan from the ground up a few years ago and are starting to see their hard work come to fruition. If Colorado hung onto the 2–1 lead in Game 3, we may already be talking about the Avalanche moving onto the next round, but we are not. On the other side of the ice, Vegas was gifted a sweet expansion draft and were allowed to build an organization much faster than expansion teams in the past. Even with the Golden Knights losing the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, the fanbase has had a great ride through the infancy of their existence.

With that being said, the Avs have not been to the third round of the playoffs since dropping the Western Conference Final to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2001–02 playoffs. Colorado fans have seen the rebuild through and want nothing more than to head to Vegas with a 3–2 series lead. The time is now, and the time is now for MacKinnon to lead his team beyond the second round. The Avalanche are a legit Stanley Cup favorite, but may be on the outside looking in if they cannot stop the two-game skid and win Tuesday night in Colorado.

The post Heading into pivotal Game 5, Avalanche desperate to advance appeared first on The Rink.

Sure playing in Vegas was not going to be an easy task. Yet, if the Avalanche took their skill and desire to win that they had from the game two they could’ve had a better shot at game three.  Unfortunately that’s not what happened. Head coach Jared Bednar was not pleased in his post-game press conference and that’s something fans don’t see very often. He wouldn’t go into details about what went wrong other than to say that the team’s ‘commit’ level needed to improve. He did call out Phillipp Grubauer as the Avs’ best player of the night.

So what made the Avalanche go from a “firing on all cylinders” team that played a strong 60 minutes of hockey to one that got beat all over the ice? And yes, it was pretty much ALL over the ice. They lost face-off after face-off. With at least two power play opportunities, they couldn’t convert. And they chased the puck all night.

Don’t get me wrong, they played around 15 minutes of the great hockey, but fans know that amount does not win games. No matter how great a team is at believing in themselves when things go south and they aren’t winning puck battles anymore, it does have an emotional impact regardless of what people may think. And while Jared Bednar has had the Avalanche succeed in the past using speed and talent to win games when their strategy isn’t working, it will take something big to turn that around in this series.

So, what do the Avalanche need to do for game four?

Use visualization for starters. Many top athletes use it to get themselves into the mental headspace of achieving what they want to achieve. If the players who take faceoffs spend time visualizing themselves winning them, that will begin to happen. If the players see themselves out skating the Knights, winning the race to the puck, that will also happen. And, when they use this technique, it will unknowingly have a positive impact on their confidence level.  You might believe this is all too ‘woo woo’ for hockey, yet people today underestimate the power of thought and the mental aspect in hockey.

Mental attitude plays a bigger part in the game than anyone thinks possible. Yet, when you have a team that tells themselves they will win their Division and the President’s Trophy to gain the home-ice advantage, and it happens, that is what I am talking about. Although teams will tell you if you win the next shift, you can win the period, then win the game. Playing in a hostile environment like Vegas, let’s win the next face-off then go from there.

The post After first playoff loss, Avalanche need to reclaim 60 minute effort appeared first on The Rink.

The game was played in front of a full-capacity T-Mobile Center, adding even more electricity to the series. Knights forward Ryan Reaves and Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri were both ruled out with suspensions. Alternately, Colorado Head Coach Jared Bednar made a couple of lineup changes before the game by taking out rookies Alex Newhook and Sampo Ranta and replacing them with Kiefer Sherwood and Carl Soderberg.

First period

Right off the bat, it felt like Vegas was on a mission.  The Knights were forechecking and putting constant pressure on the Avs. In the first couple of minutes, the goaltenders at each end took shots at opposing forwards with their sticks—showing how tense and physical the series had become. The Avalanche somehow got out of the period tied at 0-0, despite minor penalties to Gabriel Landeskog and Patrik Nemeth and being outshot 15-3.

Second Period

The scoring opened in the second period when Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo fired a shot from the point and William Karlsson buried a Philipp Grubauer rebound.  But just a minute later, Colorado got the equalizer from the 4^th line—with Carl Soderberg scoring off of a juicy rebound from a Pierre-Edoaurd Bellemare snapshot.  The period ended after the Knights killed off a delay of game penalty called on Shea Theodore.

The @Avalanche answer right back! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/0fQb2PPR5Q

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) June 5, 2021

Third Period

With the game tied heading into the final period of regulation, it was a shock that the Avs were still in the game. They were either going to steal a game in Vegas—or Phillipp Grubauer’s near-perfect night was going to be spoiled. And Colorado caught a break when Nicolas Roy was called for hooking, putting the Avs on the power play. With Colorado’s first PP unit out, players fought for control along the boards in the Knights zone—until the puck trickled out to an open Mikko Rantanen, who blasted the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury, giving the Avs a 2-1 lead.

WHAT. A. BLAST. Mikko Rantanen, sheesh! #StanleyCup

NHL x @massmutual

: https://t.co/TgHqInayQo @NHLonNBCSports
: https://t.co/f90GskjalD @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/1RBsCEOiZx

— NHL (@NHL) June 5, 2021

But the game was far from over. The Avs tried to keep the puck deep in Vegas’ end, but the Knights were mounting desperate pressure. With six minutes left in the game, Jonathan Marchessault tied the game by banking the puck of Grubauer from behind the net. Then less than a minute later, Max Pacioretty redirected in the go-ahead goal, giving Vegas a much-needed win on home ice.

What’s next?

The Avs and Knights play game four this Sunday in what should be another great battle between a couple of the best teams in the NHL. It’s just a shame that the series is happening so soon in the playoffs. With Vegas handing Colorado their first loss of the playoffs, that means that the series will go at leastf five games. So, at minimum, action will return to Ball Arena Tuesday for game five.

The post Avalanche crumble in third period, drop Game 3 to Vegas 3-2 appeared first on The Rink.

Per Friedman’s report the NHL is beginning plans with four teams as part of a first-ever two-game, two-day “Outdoor Weekend” showcase at Lake Tahoe. More specifically the events will be held at Edgewood Tahoe Resort, home of the popular celebrity golf tournament, and will be played around the 16th, 17th and 18th holes of the course.

Fans will not be in attendance, as the number of attendees will be limited to about 400. This will all but be taken up by the teams’ traveling parties and staff needed to run the events. The lack of fans will give TV coverage some unique opportunities to broadcast the games like, possibly, more drone cameras.

More news will follow, but the games featured are the Colorado Avalanche vs the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, Feb 20, and the Philadelphia Flyers vs the Boston Bruins on Sunday, Feb 21. These games were the only two scheduled for the targeted weekend, which suggests this event was part of the NHL’s plan all along.

Four teams — Boston, Colorado, Philadelphia and Vegas — are headed to Lake Tahoe in February: https://t.co/GDFc633pVD

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 1, 2021

The post BREAKING: NHL to play two outdoor games in Lake Tahoe in February appeared first on The Rink.

Pirri spent the last three seasons in the Vegas Golden Knights organization, but mostly with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. In his first stint with the Blackhawks, he spent the majority of his time in Rockford, putting up 200 points (68 goals, 132 assists) in the process. He was never able to crack the NHL lineup consistently and was traded to Florida on March 2, 2014. His career has been much of the same since leaving the Blackhawks, with a mixture of mostly AHL playing time and some sprinkles of NHL time. His career-high of games played in the NHL is 60 with the New York Rangers in 2016–17, where he scored 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists).

The Blackhawks selected Pirri in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, 59th overall.

The Blackhawks re-acquired Brandon Pirri on Monday afternoon. (Photograph courtesy of CBS Chicago)

The 26-year-old Sikura leaves Chicago with similar failed promises to Pirri years earlier. Sikura was Bowman’s self-proclaimed “trade deadline acquisition” in March of 2018, but was never able to find his game in the NHL. He leaves with just one goal and 13 assists in his Blackhawks career. Sikura’s brother, Tyler, has been a veteran presence in Rockford for the last three seasons.

It remains to be seen where Pirri will play, but conventional wisdom would say that he will be one of the top players in Rockford with recently signed Cody Franson. Pirri can definitely find the back of the net, but his defensive deficiencies are what has kept him from full-time jobs with the Blackhawks, Panthers, Ducks, Rangers and Golden Knights. At 29 and after playing in five other organizations, one would think that has not changed much.

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks trade Dylan Sikura to Vegas for ex-Blackhawk Brandon Pirri appeared first on The Rink.

If you came here looking for another “feel good” article about the Chicago Blackhawks’ return to playoff glory in 2020, you are probably in the wrong place. And certainly, there are lots of those out there.

That said, we offer, as always, an objective take on the games just concluded, as well as an assessment of where the team is in a larger sense—so here it goes.

Good news: The Blackhawks made it further than most expected.

Bad news: They pretty much got dominated in the first actual playoff round by a team with a talent level the Blackhawks need to attain themselves.

Which means: The Blackhawks have some work to do. And they may not be able to get that work done soon enough in light of their salary cap structure, prospect pipeline and other factors.

There is a temptation, that some may have already succumbed to, to color this first round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights as proof that “whatever Stan Bowman et al are doing, it’s working.” And therefore, just stay the course, In Stan We Trust.

And in the America of 2020, where opinions are driven entirely by emotion and not fact, you can always find the “right” set of “facts” somewhere on the internet to support your opinion.

So, on the surface, you can point to the fact (and it is a fact) that the Blackhawks made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. However (also a fact), they got an assist from a pandemic and a “liberal” play-in format that included all but the worst seven teams in the league. The Blackhawks were in that tier between No. 17 and No. 24 that got a break, and they took advantage of it, beating a disappointing Edmonton Oilers team three games to one.

In that series, the Blackhawks showed more balance, more desire and more willingness to mix it up physically than the highly touted Oilers. Those are all positives, at least in terms of how Chicago measures up against what was ultimately an overrated team like Edmonton.

But, in the first real playoff round, against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Hawks struggled for the most part (to put it charitably). Were it not for the Game Four heroics of goaltender Corey Crawford, the team would have been swept. The Blackhawks also foiled the Vegas power play for the first four games. But otherwise, at five-on-five, arguably the best metric of playoff viability, the Blackhawks were dominated by a bigger, deeper, more-disciplined and relentless team.

The Brandon Saad-Jonathan Toews-Dominik Kubalik line, that was the best for either team against the Oilers, was less of a factor versus Vegas. Newly minted, $6.4 million-per-year winger Alex DeBrincat got his first goal of the playoffs on an empty netter in Game Four, and had a nice actual goal in Game Five. Pierre McGuire, predictably, was all oooohs and ahhhs over Kirby Dach and Adam Boqvist (deservedly so in terms of the potential of both young players), but failed to point out how physically overwhelmed both were (in reality) at times.

The point of all this: Vegas is a very good team, and one that may go deep in the playoffs this year or even come out of the Western Conference. So, you can choose to rest your argument that the Hawks are “improving, just not there yet” on that. Or, you can take a more discerning stance and say the gulf between the Hawks today and the team they need to become is wide, with at best a highly questionable bridge.

Because as always, with the “plan” that Bowman is seeming to execute, the calculus is: “Let’s find and develop youth around the remaining Stanley Cup core (Crawford, Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith), and we will get back to the top of the league.”

The problem is, as we have just seen, there is a difference between 19-year-olds dabbling in a few first-round games, and 27-year-olds pushing to make the finals. It is called development, experience and time.

Sure, the Hawks have “experience” aplenty in the aforementioned core. But, it is experience that is getting old and running down with each successive season.

Two years ago, we all thought Crawford and Brent Seabrook would be around and contributing for at least a few more seasons. Seabrook now looks done. Crawford had a couple of phenomenal games in these series, but the rest were pedestrian (at best). And how will we be talking about Keith or Toews two seasons from now?

So, the only way to validate or support the approach that the Blackhawks organization is taking to return to the league’s elite is betting that, in order to improve, they will acquire more players and prospects of Dach and Boqvist caliber (i.e., top-10 draft picks who at least somewhat pan out), and then develop them awfully quickly before the current core loses any more tread off its tires.

Thanks to “winning” the play-in series, the Blackhawks look to be drafting around 17th in the first round, not exactly prime position to snag an impact player, not even the goalie of the future they so desperately need.

That is literally the only way the Hawks can do it—through the draft—thanks to some pretty bad salary cap management.

There was a time 5-10 summers ago when the Blackhawks would have to nip and tuck every offseason and get creative to hopefully sign their RFAs and stay under the salary cap, which is a zero-sum game—if you are spending every dime you have under the cap to retain your current guys, there is not much money left to improve with.

This summer, the Blackhawks are back there again, but this time, they are going to have to spend every dime to retain Kubalik, who at 26, may never be better than what he is now, and possibly Dylan Strome (ditto). And, they may even have to lose a serviceable veteran defenseman like Olli Maatta to do it.

The zero-sum game now applies to a fringe playoff team, not a perennial Cup contender.

How did we get here? Look no further than the money being paid to Toews, Kane, DeBrincat, Saad, Seabrook and soon Kubalik. The only “value” in the core is 37-year-old Duncan Keith at $5.5 million per year.

Following the Game Five loss to Vegas, Steve Konroyd and Jamal Mayers were throwing around the idea of extending Crawford this offseason for three years at $5-6 million per year, a notion that it would seem a lot of Chicago fans would be okay with, because…the salary cap is “fake news” and, hey…“Crow.”

But, here is an actual fact. Including the two admittedly stellar outings Crawford had in the playoffs, his overall numbers were 4–5 with a .907 save percentage and 3.31 goals against average. He will be 36 soon and he has had long periods of inactivity due to concussions (which do not get “cured”).

You want to lose Maatta or Saad to finance this madness? Guess what, Maatta was maybe your best defenseman in these playoffs and Saad is not easily “replaced” by some kid who was playing for Penn State last year. It does not actually ever work that way.

In life, to paraphrase “Da Coach,” be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.

Or, in the end, you get what you really deserve, because there is really nothing to suggest that the Blackhawks can be a meaningfully better team next year, with another year coming off the careers of the aging core.

So, if you really just want to be a team sniffing around maybe getting a playoff spot (and “anything can happen”) year after year, then you may want to just “stay the course.”

Another quote ringing around my head as I pen this recap is the title of that old Talking Heads song: The Road To Nowhere.

If you would rather rejoin the league’s elite, larger work needs to be done—that probably cannot be done without a fresh, no-holds-barred perspective from the top of the organization down, and some big (and probably unpopular in the short term) rebuilding moves.

For fans, it was fun to actually make the playoffs, and to win one game while there, but in the larger sense of redirecting this franchise, the Blackhawks still desperately need to shake things up.

These playoffs should not be seen as validation of Bowman and Jeremy Colliton, but rather further proof that measured baby steps, and resting on past laurels, are not going to be nearly enough to lead the team back to glory.

Being “positive” about the Blackhawks should not be defined as just seeking validation for Bowman or Colliton or a roster and organization still full of holes. It should be defined as recognizing and applauding when the team is actually aggressively pursuing the greatness fans deserve for their dollars.

And when the Blackhawks do that, we will.

The post ANALYSIS: Blackhawks’ playoff run ends; now what?  appeared first on The Rink.

Jeremy Colliton inserted forward John Quenneville into the lineup, sitting Alexander Nylander in the press box. Such a small move would usually not bring much fanfare, but Nylander is a trade acquisition by General Manager Stan Bowman that has not quite panned out, even after his “change of scenery” from Buffalo.

First period

The first few minutes of the contest did not generate much action other than Vegas getting extended zone time after a Brandon Saad turnover near his own blue line. Saad’s attempt to stickhandle his way into the Vegas zone, instead of dumping the puck to a corner, only to have his pocket picked which turned into a rush for forward William Carrier. Carrier made a nice drive to the net and found forward Ryan Reaves in front of the net with a nifty pass. Duncan Keith made a recovery and broke up the high-scoring chance in front of the net. Such a small detail like dumping the puck in instead of trying to make a play at the blue line nearly cost Chicago at the other end.

A few minutes later, Crawford stoned forward Reilly Smith in deep with a sprawling save. What appeared to be an early goal for the Golden Knights was turned aside. Luckily for the Hawks, Crawford carried over his excellent play from Sunday night into Tuesday’s game since midway through the first period, Chicago’s defense was non-existent at best.

Corey Crawford remains good. Deflection goes right to Smith's stick and he makes the stop. First dangerous chance for #VegasBorn this game. pic.twitter.com/jNna45z0ZH

— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) August 19, 2020

Chicago caught what you can only say was a “huge” break when Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner gave up a juicy rebound after a soft backhand shot by Dominik Kubalik that resulted in Jonathan Toews pounding home the rebound for a 1–0 Blackhawk advantage. The goal, the Chicago captain’s fifth goal of the playoffs, was assisted by Kubalik and Brandon Saad. Kubalik did an excellent job of getting the puck to the net, rewarding Toews for getting to the front of the net, a recipe for success in the playoffs.

Crawford kept Vegas off the scoreboard after a few grade-A chances, allowing Chicago to extend their lead to 2–0 after Alex DeBrincat found himself in front of the net by himself and tapped home a pass from Dylan Strome. Strome delayed just enough time to allow Lehner to slide out of position. The goal came after a spin-o-rama by Connor Murphy inside the blue line, reminiscent of Chicago great Denis Savard.

Connor Murphy… pic.twitter.com/K9PJnbVgQY

— Eric Lear (@EricLear312) August 19, 2020

Vegas forward Max Pacioretty cut the Chicago lead in half at 2–1 after he buried a quick wrist shot into an empty net, as a shot from Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb was tipped by Toews on its way to the net, finding Pacioretty to the right of Crawford with nothing standing in front of him.

After being outplayed for the first half of the period, Chicago led on the scoreboard 2–1 while being outshot 14–10.

Second period

Within the first minute of the period, Vegas forward Mark Stone beat Crawford after a bad change by Chicago. Stone’s goal was an early backbreaker for Chicago, a team trying to hang onto some momentum from having the lead after one period of play. The goal tied the game 2–2. Keith made a poor decision at center ice allowing Vegas an odd-man rush into the Chicago zone.

At the 4:02 mark in the period, Patrick Kane found himself alone in front of Lehner after a Vegas turnover at the blue line, and beat the Vegas goalie five-hole after a nifty forehand-to-backhand move. Drake Caggiula assisted on the play, saucing the biscuit through the Vegas defense to a wide-open Kane. Kane’s second goal in the playoffs gave Chicago a 3–2 lead.

#AllforOne #CHIvsVGK #Blackhawks #VegasBorn

pic.twitter.com/QveJr1xvoQ

— The Rink — Chicago Blackhawks (@TheRinkChi) August 19, 2020

Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez scored his first goal of the playoffs—and first playoff goal since scoring the Stanley-Cup winning goal in 2014—at the 7:28 mark in the period. The goal came on the power play after Adam Boqvist was called for holding the stick of Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault. Midway through the affair the game was tied 3–3.

Vegas has established a sizable lead in the stats yet again tonight, but this feels like a much more evenly matched game. Stats through 40 min:

Goals: 3-3
Shot attempts: 45-32 VGK
Shots on goal: 28-19 VGK
Scoring chances: 22-14 VGK

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) August 19, 2020

Third period

Early in the period, Vegas forward Alex Tuch tucked home a rebound under Crawford giving the designated home team the lead at 4–3. Tuch beat Boqvist to the outside and scored off his own rebound. Tuch’s fourth goal of the playoffs was assisted by Marchessault and defenseman Shea Theodore.

Alex Tuch scores to give Golden Knights their first lead of the game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/gJOKjpSQkE

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) August 19, 2020

After falling behind, Chicago could only muster three shots on goal through 10 minutes of play in the period. Vegas clamped down on the Blackhawks, playing a smart, simple style of hockey. This type of game was remindful of when the Stanley Cup Blackhawks could turn a one-goal contest into a sure-win outcome.

Chicago’s season appeared over when Tuch appeared to have scored his second goal of the period. Tuch scored into another empty net while Crawford was interfered with by forward Nick Cousins in the crease. Following a Blackhawks challenge, the referees determined there was contact with Crawford, therefore disallowing the goal. With just over four minutes left in the game, Vegas clung to a one-goal lead.

With 1:14 left in regulation, Colliton pulled Crawford for the extra attacker. When Chicago was finally able to settle into the Vegas zone with 20 seconds left in the game, a few shots on net did not end up in the back of the net. After 60 minutes of play, Vegas held onto the 4–3 lead to claim a 4–1 victory in the first-round playoff series.

The taste of playoff hockey, during a season in which Chicago would not have qualified during a non-pandemic year, was a huge plus for the youngsters on the roster. Before the season’s stoppage of play, the Blackhawks were going to play out the final 12 games of the season and head home to golf. The change in playoff format saw Chicago defeat Edmonton was a pleasant surprise for the youngest team in the 2020 NHL postseason before ultimately succumbing to Vegas. However, the experience did come with the price of the possible first overall pick, or at the least, a higher draft pick in the NHL Entry Draft, as the Blackhawks will be selecting either 16th or 17th instead of in the top 10. Time will tell which would have been better.

The post Along the Boards: Vegas wins series after 4–3 victory appeared first on The Rink.

Game Four began with the Knights returning to Robin Lehner between the pipes, while center Paul Statsny missed his second game in a row, ruled “unfit to play.” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton returned to the Brandon Saad-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane combination to start the game in the hopes of igniting his offense. The Hawks would later shift Kane back to a line with Kirby Dach and Drake Caggiula.

Just over four minutes into the first, Caggiula got the Hawks on the board. Olli Maatta joined the rush with Kane, and from behind the net, found Caggiula open in front of the cage. Caggiula wasted no time, smacking it low and hard behind Lehner for a 1–0 Chicago lead.

#AllforOne #CHIvsVGK #Blackhawks #VegasBorn

pic.twitter.com/ajSLE9ezT2

— The Rink — Chicago Blackhawks (@TheRinkChi) August 16, 2020

The Knights kept pushing and carried the play throughout the period. With 6:20 on the clock, the Hawks caught a break and extended their lead when Matthew Highmore threw the puck to the net from a near impossible angle. The puck banked off of Lehner’s mask and into the back of the cage, doubling the gap to 2–0.

Tough angles?

No such thing. #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/fJTaBdGZuQ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 16, 2020

But, just 18 seconds later, Vegas got that goal right back on a blast from the point, off the stick of Shea Theodore, making it 2–1.

https://twitter.com/Kingsgifs/status/1295139105269927936?s=20

In the second frame, the Vegas onslaught continued, as did Crawford’s brilliance in net. Chicago killed off a Adam Boqvist holding penalty and a Saad slash, while Crawford kicked away 16 shots. The Hawks were unsuccessful in their one power play attempt in the second and rarely challenged Lehner, registering a mere seven shots on net.

Corey Crawford's glove save on Shea Theodore. #Blackhawks #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/3XGQmKMDuu

— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) August 17, 2020

The third period provided more of the same. The Hawks failed to convert yet again on a power play, finishing 0–3 on the night with the man advantage. Crawford fended off a furious final push from the Knights, who tested him in the final minute and a half with an extra attacker. After missing two grade-A chances earlier in the period, Alex DeBrincat finished off the game with an empty-net goal with 10 seconds remaining to push the score to 3–1. Crawford finished his sublime performance with 48 saves.

NBC rewarding Corey Crawford for his incredible Game 4 performance pic.twitter.com/TChAQLmUG8

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) August 17, 2020

The Blackhawks will need to replicate this gutty performance should they wish to keep the series going. Game Five will be Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. CDT in Edmonton.

The post Along the Boards: Crawford’s brilliance keeps series alive, Hawks win 3–1 appeared first on The Rink.

“Awkward alert” –@RobinLehner pic.twitter.com/f0llBU2mDg

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 12, 2020

Chicago made the simple decision of starting two-time Stanley Cup champion Corey Crawford, creating a great storyline amongst former goalkeepers.

First period

Midway through the first period, both teams threw four shots on net, none that would be considered a high scoring chance. Vegas played a quick game early, only to be matched by Chicago’s well-structured start. This was a best-case scenario for the Blackhawks, as Vegas could play a heavy game at times that the Blackhawks would not match.

As Mike Emrick and Pierre McGuire mentioned a few different times during the broadcast, this period was a “feeling out” process for both teams. At the end of the first period, Vegas led in shots 9–5, holding Chicago without a shot for over a nine-minute stretch toward the end of the frame.

It's pretty clear that the #Blackhawks are trying to maintain control of the middle of the ice in the defensive zone, if the heat map on shots is any indication. pic.twitter.com/uBcB1F3Fdk

— James Neveau (@JamesNeveau) August 12, 2020

Second period

Chicago started the period with a few early chances by Jonathan Toews and Dylan Strome, both whom brushed the pipe behind Lehner. Strome’s attempt came as Lehner lost a skate blade, forcing the former Vezina Trophy finalist to make an awkward attempt on the shot.

no blade

no prob

¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/e6AiM2qYw6

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 12, 2020

The uneventful period turned a little physical between teams, as Ryan Reaves played his physical style and Toews and Jonathan Marchessault tussled along the benches as Toews was not happy about being pinned along the open door along the bench.

Things picked up quickly after the 7:22 mark of the period, as Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore scored the first goal of the game after firing a wrist shot past the glove of Crawford for a 1–0 Golden Knights lead. Theodore’s third goal of the playoffs was assisted by forward Reilly Smith and defenseman Alec Martinez.

Just over two minutes later, Vegas forward William Carrier bulled himself to the net, shoving Chicago forward Matthew Highmore to the ice, and pounced home a rebound shot from Reaves from the corner. The goal, Carrier’s second of the postseason, was assisted by Reaves and center Nicolas Roy, doubling the gap to 2–0. Chicago’s bench boss Jeremy Colliton challenged the play for offside only to be awarded a two-minute penalty when the goal was upheld.

While shorthanded, Chicago forward Brandon Saad made an excellent play stripping the puck from Theodore and finding forward David Kampf, who beat Lehner glove side, cutting the Vegas lead to 2–1. The goal gave Kampf his first goal of the postseason.

David Kampf scores shorthanded for his first career playoff goal, but this play started with Brandon Saad. What an effort. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/eN9N5sahlp

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) August 12, 2020

At the end of the period, Vegas led 2–1 on the scoreboard and 21–14 in shots. Chicago was lucky to find the back of the net while shorthanded since Vegas clamped down on the Blackhawks in their own zone for much of the first two periods of play.

Third period

Vegas extended their lead to 3–1 when Smith beat Crawford for his first goal of the postseason. Crawford made a half-hearted attempt at a blocker save only to find the puck bounce over his shoulder and into the net. The “soft” goal was an early backbreaker for the Blackhawks.

You can never shoot the puck too hard #VegasBorn | @Raising_Canes pic.twitter.com/JYitH6a4ES

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 12, 2020

After some end-to-end action, Smith scored his second goal of the period at the 8:14 mark of the period. The Etobicoke, Ontario, native beat Crawford with a slick backhand over the glove hand of Crawford on a break to the net. The goal extended the Vegas lead to 4–1 and showed the top seed in the Western Conference could turn up the heat on the Blackhawks in a blink of an eye.

Classic NHL20 goal…#CHIvsVGK #StanleyCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/dIW5gi6MmZ

— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) August 12, 2020

At the end of the day, the only thing that was “awkward” about the matchup between Lehner and his former mates occurred when he lost his skate blade on two separate occasions. Vegas played a simple game and forced Chicago to generate their own offensive chances, which the eighth-seeded team could not accomplish. Vegas did not make many mistakes and outclassed the Blackhawks over the course of 60 minutes.

Chicago will look to even the series on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CDT at the Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The post Along the Boards: Vegas outclasses Chicago 4–1 in series opener appeared first on The Rink.

Records

Vegas 39–24–8
Chicago 32–30–8

Season head-to-head

Vegas 2–1–0
Chicago 1–2–0

Special teams (Power play, penalty kill)

Vegas 22.0% (Ninth), Chicago 82.1% (Ninth)
Chicago 15.2% (28th), Vegas 76.6% (27th)

Shots for, Shots against

Vegas 32.3 (Seventh), 26.3 (Third)
Chicago 30.5 (13th), 34.3 (21st)

Goals for, Goals against

Vegas 224 (10th), 209 (14th)
Chicago 208 (19th), 214 (16th)

Faceoffs

Vegas 50.0% (16th)
Chicago 49.9% (17th)

Average height, weight, age

Vegas 6-foot-2, 203.5 pounds, 27.5
Chicago 6-foot-1, 191.5 pounds, 25.4

Projected lineups

Vegas Golden Knights
Max Pacioretty — William Karlsson — Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault — Paul Stastny — Reilly Smith
Nick Cousins — Alex Tuch — Nicolas Roy
William Carrier — Tomas Nosek — Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt
Alec Martinez — Shea Theodore
Nick Holden — Zach Whitecloud

Robin Lehner
Marc-Andre Fleury

Chicago Blackhawks 
Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Dominik Kubalik
Alex DeBrincat — Kirby Dach — Patrick Kane
Alexander Nylander — Dylan Strome — Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore — Ryan Carpenter — David Kampf

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Connor Murphy
Olli Maatta — Slater Koekkoek

Corey Crawford
Malcolm Subban

Analysis

As it goes with a No. 8 seed, the Blackhawks would appear to have their work cut out for them in their first round playoff matchup against the No. 1 seed Golden Knights.

Fresh off a “play-in” upset of Edmonton—where the only people who picked the Hawks would pick them against the ‘83 Oilers (or really “anyone”)—the Blackhawks can certainly make the ol’ “anything can happen” argument.

And, they could be right.

However, the Knights are not the Oilers. Not just in the composition of their team, but also in that they just performed strongly in the round robins against the best competition in the West. But, let’s look at why some hope might be justified for the Hawks.

Above all, their first line is as hot and as potent as any in hockey. Jonathan Toews is playing again like THE Jonathan Toews, same for Brandon Saad, and Dominik Kubalik is a quick-strike lethal weapon. I doubt the Knights will stop this line, and as the saying goes, their best hope is to contain them.

The Hawk defense is also playing pretty well. Not perfectly, but well enough to get past Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Fortunately for the Hawks, no one else on Edmonton posed much of a threat.

Compounding that relative positive is…another relative positive. For the first three games of the Edmonton series, Corey Crawford appeared to be, at best, finding his game. In the decisive Game 4, he was once again “Corey Crawford.” A lot of Hawk fans are counting on, or assuming, they will see “Game 4 Crawford” throughout the Vegas series, and not “first three games Crawford.” We shall see.

Because, again, the Knights are not the Oilers.

As we all know, Vegas went to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season two years ago. They do not really have what you would call a lot of (or any) household names. But, they are built to win in the playoffs, and, in that regard, more so than the Hawks.

Vegas has a lot of players who can both put the puck in the net and defend. They are big, but they can play however you want. Add to that, their goaltending is, if not better than the Hawks’, certainly deeper with Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury. The Hawks likely will not get a “bye” in Game 1 due to a Mike Smith meltdown—and the likes of Mikko Koskinen to decode the rest of the way.

Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer has a true luxury in picking between the hotter hand of two top NHL goaltenders. Another luxury is adding top scorer Max Pacioretty into a lineup that did not have much difficulty scoring in the round robin.

The Hawks’ play-in round featured two teams with plenty of flaws. You can argue the Hawks won because they outworked the Oilers and thereby overcame their flaws, where Edmonton seemed to never quite show up, exaggerating their own.

Chicago probably will not be so lucky with Vegas, who both showed up and prevailed in the round robins—and have shown in the recent past they know how to win in the playoffs.

In this matchup, the special teams look stunningly even, but the numbers suggest the Knights are a better five-on-five team than Chicago, which they are, and that matters significantly in the playoffs, where penalties generally get called less and overtime is five-on-five, with no three-on-three or shootout.

Sure, there is a compelling Crawford vs. Lehner subtext. I am going to assume (if Lehner and not Fleury starts for Vegas) both players will give it all they have. And with that in mind, the series will be won or lost between the goal lines. But, here is another very compelling stat: Vegas is 8–1 since 2017 against Chicago.

Keys to victory

Vegas

Keep rolling. Vegas looked very strong in the round robins. They have the scoring, depth, goaltending and physicality to go deep in the playoffs.

Chicago

Stop Vegas from continuing its roll. Winning Game 1 would not only be a minor upset for the Hawks, but it might also start to get inside the Golden Knights’ heads. Vegas has to have a fairly high confidence level coming in against a Chicago team they have dominated recently. The Hawks’ best hope may be to damage that confidence early in the series.

Prediction

When you look at all the variables, both teams’ depth (or lack thereof), size and recent playoff success, it is really hard to objectively pick the Hawks in this series. So, we are not going to.

Vegas in six games.

Comment below.

The post Series Preview: Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

With the round-robin series coming to an end, the battle for the top spot in the Western Conference comes down to the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights. The winner will nab the top seed in the Western Conference, while the loser will secure the second seed for the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In their last game before the break, the Avalanche beat the Knights 7–3 at the T-Mobile Arena with former Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare tallying two goals in the victory. During the regular season, the Avs held a perfect 2–0–0 record against the Knights, tallying 6–1 and 7–3 victories respectively. The interesting thing about these lopsided victories was that the Avs beat Vegas on the road both times.

Since the Golden Knights arrived into the NHL in 2018, the Avalanche hold an all-time record of 5–3–0, but currently, ride a four-game winning streak against the highly entertaining Knights.

Following an exciting day of eliminations during the qualifying round, the Avs now have a better idea of who they will face in the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With a victory over the Knights, the Avalanche will face off against the Chicago Blackhawks, who are coming off of a surprising series win against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

If the Avs happen to lose this showdown against Vegas, they will capture the No. 2 seed and will meet the Arizona Coyotes in the first round of the playoffs, who are coming off on an exciting series against former Avs forward Matt Duchene and the Nashville Predators.

So…who should you keep an eye on during the Avs showdown against the Knights?

With two assists, I think we can expect a big performance from Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon. Knowing everything that is at stake, expect MacKinnon to take control of the game, and put the Avs on his back with an exceptional performance.

On the other side of the die, the player to watch for the Knights will be forward Mark Stone. With 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the two round-robin games played, Stone has been on a roll as of late and has found his offensive touch.

The post Avalanche Aim For Top Seed Against Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Lehner was reported to have been headed to the Carolina Hurricanes, but the reports are that Carolina did not feel they could sign him to an extension.

The Blackhawks signed Lehner to a one-year, $5 million deal late in the day on July 1 after talks fell apart with his previous team, the New York Islanders. He has proven to be an elite-level goaltender for the second year in a row with a 16–10–5 record and a .918 save percentage behind a team that has given up the most shots on net per game in the entire NHL.

In return for Lehner, the Blackhawks acquired Malcolm Subban, prospect Slava Demin and a 2020 second-round draft pick from Vegas. Also as part of the deal, the Golden Knights acquired unsigned prospect Martins Dzierkals from Toronto in exchange for a 2020 fifth-round pick.

The deal breaks down to:

Vegas cap hit of $1.4 million.
Toronto cap hit of $1.1 million.
Chicago cap hit of $2.5 million.

CHI gets a 2nd and a prospect in package for Robin Lehner. #SNTrade

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 24, 2020

Malcolm Subban

Stanislav Demin

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks trade Lehner to Vegas Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Recaps

Friday night was a tough matchup for the Wolves. Recently, the Wolves have matched up very well with the league’s best Milwaukee Admirals, so welcoming them into town on a week’s rest was critical for the in hope of gaining two points.

Friday’s game was not what the Wolves were hoping for. After being down 2–0 early in the contest, the Wolves ultimately dropped Friday’s game 7–3. The Wolves were able to bridge the gap in the second period when the score was 5–3, but the Admirals were just too much for the home team and captured the victory at Allstate Arena.

Some pluses from the game included goals scored by Tye McGinn, Brandon Pirri and Lucas Elvenes as well as two assists from Keegan Kolesar.

Brandon Pirri scored one of the Wolves’ three goals on Friday night in their 7–3 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals. (Photograph courtesy of the Chicago Wolves)

However, aside from the loss, Kolesar left the game with what appeared to be a knee injury. It did not look good either, as Kolesar was seen sitting in the Allstate Arena’s upper level for Saturday’s game with a large brace on his right knee.

Saturday’s game was a chance for redemption for the Wolves. Without Kolesar, the Wolves were still in a great position to win as they welcomed the lowly Moose to town for Saturday night AHL action.

The first period was nothing much to discuss, as neither team could crack the opponent’s goaltender. One scary moment for Oscar Dansk was when he missed an innocent floating shot in on net that rang the post.

However, the middle frame proved to be the deciding period for the Wolves. McGinn tipped in a Nicholas Hague shot, and Gabe Quinney and Elvenes each scored backdoor power play goals for the Wolves.

Nicholas Hague registered one assist on Saturday night against Manitoba. However, he may have been the Wolves’ most explosive offensive player in the contest. (Photograph courtesy of the Chicago Wolves)

The Wolves would let the Moose back in it; with about three minutes remaining the score was 3­–2 Wolves. However, the Wolves scored two empty net goals and won 5–2.

The Wolves will travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to play the Moose for two games on Thursday and Friday. These two games are critical for the Wolves if they want to keep pace with the rest of the contending teams in the division.

No Golden Knights next year

Jesse Granger of The Athletic tweeted on Saturday night that the Golden Knights were, in fact, cutting ties with the Wolves after the 2019–20 season. He also shared his in-depth article about the likely separation:

Chicago Wolves chairman Don Levin sees “no scenario at all” where Wolves are affiliated with the Golden Knights next season.

Story by @BrianSandalow– https://t.co/1DMmSAQugu

My story on VGK bringing the AHL to Las Vegas- https://t.co/ZaqwrpiNQe

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) February 2, 2020

Wolves owner Don Levin confirmed the organization would not be moving to Las Vegas, therefore severing ties with Vegas.

The long story short is the Golden Knights want their AHL team to play at the Orleans Hotel and Casino arena, which hosted the city’s ECHL team, the Las Vegas Wranglers, from 2003–2014. This short distance gives the team benefits of calling up and sending players down in the same city. Per the rules of the league, if a player is assigned to the AHL, they must report for that practice. Players such as Nicholas Roy and Hague are sent up and down multiple times in order for the Golden Knights to comply with the salary cap. So, every time that happens, they have to report for practice in Chicago, then fly back to Las Vegas or wherever the Golden Knights are playing when recalled.

The benefits of placing a team in Henderson, Nevada, which is about 16 miles southeast of Las Vegas, allows players to take a short drive between stadiums in the event of a call-up or send-down situation.

The questions presented by such a move include “who will the Wolves align with next season?” and “which AHL team is going to be bought and relocated?”. These two questions likely are going to be answered in a single swoop. What does that mean, you ask? Well, whichever AHL team that isn’t currently owned by their NHL affiliate will likely be an option for the Vegas Golden Knights to buy and relocate. Once that occurs, that will open the avenues for the Wolves to affiliate with whichever NHL franchise is without an AHL club.

There have been rumblings that the Rockford IceHogs, the Chicago Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate, could be bought and relocated to Henderson, Nevada. If that were to happen, it would be the first time the two Chicago franchises aligned in affiliation. Geographically, it would make plenty of sense. However, the bad blood between Wayne Messmer, a partial owner with the Wolves, and Bill Wirtz would have to be put aside for that to happen. They should be able to move on now that Rocky Wirtz owns the team, but the Blackhawks have a lot of control over the IceHogs, which they may not have if affiliating with the Wolves.

There are numerous possibilities that could happen with the Wolves’ affiliation and we will soon find out who they will be aligned with in the future.

Honoring Kobe

Defenseman Jaycob Megna honored the late Kobe Bryant by wearing a Bryant No. 24 jersey in warmups before the Wolves went on to beat the Moose. Megna, who wears the number, thought it was a great way to pay tribute to an icon who impacted people well beyond the sport of basketball.

https://twitter.com/Chicago_Wolves/status/1223839268285579264

An awesome tribute by Megna to a legend and that jersey will definitely help fund a great cause in honor of Kobe and Gigi Bryant, as well as John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan, who all lost their lives in the tragic accident over a week ago.

That is all for now. Until next time, see you at the Wolves Den.

The post From the Wolves Den: Wolves split weekend, other news for week of Feb. 1 appeared first on The Rink.

9 p.m. CST
T-Mobile Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starting goaltenders

Chicago — Corey Crawford (6–7–2, .912 save percentage, 2.89 goals against average)
Vegas — Marc-Andre Fleury (6–6–2, .919 save percentage, 2.54 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (15.7%, 24th)
Vegas (22.0%, eighth)

Penalty kill
Chicago (79.6%, 18th)
Vegas (84.0%, Tenth)

Shots for/against
Chicago (31.2, 18th; 36.1, 30th)
Vegas (33.6, 10th; 31.6, 17th)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (8.80%)
Vegas (8.40%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (49.0%, 22nd)
Vegas (50.3%, 14th)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 194 pounds
Vegas — 6-foot-2, 201 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

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

Connor Murphy—  Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Dennis Gilbert — Adam Boqvist

Vegas Golden Knights

Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore — Nicolas Hague
Jon Merrill —Deryk Engelland

Analysis

The rollercoaster ride continues. After two wins in a row, the Blackhawks fell to the Arizona Coyotes in the shootout Sunday. The Blackhawks took a 3-1 lead after the first period. The lead evaporated in the second period and the third period and OT were scoreless. Robin Lehner has gone on record saying he hates the shootout and he does tend to struggle in them. Lehner’s issues continued against the Coyotes. Sadly, Lehner’s 44 save effort may be forgotten because of the end result.

Despite the loss, Jonathan Toews showed signs of coming out of his season-long slump. Toews had one goal and two assists in the Hawks’ loss to Arizona. It was Toews’ first multi-point game since November 16th against Nashville and only his third multi-point game of the season. The Blackhawks need more from their captain to sustain any success going forward. Another guy who is hopefully heating up is Alex Debrincat. Debrincat extended his scoring streak to three games and Patrick Kane got another point in the contest to increase his point total to 36.

The Blackhawks continue to make roster moves as the team recalled Matthew Highmore and Adam Boqvist from Rockford. Highmore and Boqvist join recently recalled Dylan Sikura at the NHL level. All three figure to have substantive roles going forward.

Chicago’s next opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights, figure to get back their goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from leave. Fleury had been out mourning the death of his father. It will be an emotional return to the ice for Fleury tonight. In their last contest, the Golden Knights were spanked by the New York Rangers 5—0, the loss snapped the Knights five-game point streak. If the Knights want to get back to their winning ways, they need their points leader Max Pacioretty back on the scoresheet. In his last two games, Pacioretty has been held scoreless.

Can the Blackhawks improve their Odds of winning in Vegas or will the Knights defend the Castle?

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks at Vegas Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Drake Caggiula was held out of tonight’s game for concussion protocol, while Corey Crawford started in net, attempting to win the franchise’s first game against Vegas (0–5–2).

Chicago Blackhawks lines and pairings

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

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Adam Boqvist

First period
Within the first minute of action, Zack Smith was awarded a penalty shot, which rang off the crossbar after beating Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The penalty shot was followed up by an excellent save by Crawford on forward Reilly Smith’s backhand attempt. Only 90 seconds into the first period and both teams had top-notch chances to take the early lead.

Zack Smith hits the crossbar on a penalty shot 44 seconds into the game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/5BYjFmK81j

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 14, 2019

At the 2:58 mark, Vegas fourth-line forward William Carrier deflected a shot from defenseman Nicolas Hague in front, beating Crawford for the first goal of the game. The goal, Carrier’s third goal of the season, was assisted by Hague and center Nicolas Roy for a 1–0 Vegas lead.

Chicago’s Andrew Shaw was called for a hooking violation at the 5:31 mark, resulting in the Golden Knights’ first power play of the game. Vegas took advantage. Forward William Karlsson scored his fifth goal of the season, doubling Vegas’s lead to 2–0.

Only 16 seconds later, Patrick Kane put Chicago on the board after he beat Fleury with a pretty one-time goal. The goal extends Kane’s point streak to seven games. Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat assisted on the tally, which cut the Vegas advantage in half at 2–1.

The Great 8-8#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/s8MeHvtvEb

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 14, 2019

A few moments later, Jonathan Toews had a breakaway that was denied by Fleury. Toews’ five-hole attempt to tie the score continued a wave of offensive chances for both teams, as both struggled to show any signs of defensive responsibility. After an entertaining first period of play, Vegas led in shots 16–7.

Second period
After a Calvin de Haan turnover, Vegas forward Alex Tuch beat Crawford for what appeared to be the Golden Knights’ third goal of the game. However, after video review, it was determined that the puck did not cross the goal line, hitting the crossbar and then left post. The video review was an obvious call even to the most casual viewer.

At the 15:51 mark, de Haan ripped a shot past Fleury, beating the goaltender glove side. The goal gave the first-year Blackhawks’ defenseman his first marker on the season and evened the score at 2–2. Zack Smith and Kirby Dach assisted on the play. The assist gave Smith 100 helpers for his 12-year career.

Calvin de Haan took the elevator all the way to the ROOF!

We're TIED. @NHLBlackhawks #CHIvsVGK

: NBCSN
: https://t.co/GHTKRT60oM pic.twitter.com/9A95xwrhkR

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) November 14, 2019

Erik Gustafsson gave Chicago its first lead of the game at 3–2 after beating Fleury for his first goal this season. Gustafsson did an excellent job of finding ice in the middle of the defense in the offensive zone, allowing Strome to feed him with a slick pass.

Erik Gustafsson’s first goal of the season is a beauty. Top shelf. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/BnBCxqHZ4A

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 14, 2019

Adding to the wildness of the first 30 minutes of the game, a questionable penalty given to Crawford for throwing his stick at Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault resulted in the second penalty shot of the game. However, Marchessault could not beat Crawford after a half-hearted fake and shot.

Corey Crawford denies Jonathan Marchessault on a penalty shot. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/DeacHLBebT

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 14, 2019

After two periods of play, Chicago led the game 3–2 while being outshot 31–17.

Third period
Chicago’s fourth consecutive goal came off of the stick of Dach at the 3:57 mark of the period. The 18-year-old rookie took an errant shot from Ryan Carpenter and beat Fleury for this third goal this season, doubling Chicago’s lead at 4–2. Smith earned his second assist of the game on the play.

Lucky Dach!

Kirby throws the puck in the net on the rebound. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/O6lOxBxNRQ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 14, 2019

Not much action occurred until Adam Boqvist was called for interference at the 11:20 mark in the period. The ensuing power play gave Vegas a jump in their step and some momentum, but the home team could not solve the Chicago penalty kill.

Strome extended the Chicago lead after taking a nice saucer pass from DeBrincat before beating Fleury over the glove for Strome’s fourth goal this season, putting the game out of reach at 5–2. Kane also assisted on the play.

Calm, cool and collected#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/eto5ROa8GA

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 14, 2019

In what could have been the most entertaining game of the season, the craziness was not over quite yet, as Vegas cut into the Chicago lead at the 18:59 mark when Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt beat Crawford to bring the score to 5–3.

Vegas pulled Fleury for the extra attacker, but Chicago held tough and defeated Vegas for the first time in their short existence.

The good
Chicago came back from a 2–0 deficit and scored five unanswered goals.

Head coach Jeremy Colliton had mentioned in past weeks about the importance of playing well in the second period. Crawford was outstanding with 15 saves and the defense chipped in with two goals from the back end.

Kirby Dach, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Zack Smith and Dylan Strome had multi-point games.

Crawford was spectacular tonight. The 34-year-old veteran stopped 39 shots. This performance gives him three straight strong appearances.

The bad
The defense allowed 31 shots through two periods and allowed 42 for the game. With average goaltending, this game could have had a completely different outcome.

Please comment below.

The post RECAP: Chicago defeats Vegas 5–3 in entertaining fashion appeared first on The Rink.

9 p.m. CST
T-Mobile Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starting goaltenders

Chicago — Corey Crawford (2–4–2, .905 save percentage, 3.27 goals against average)
Vegas — Marc-Andre Fleury (9–4–1, .920 save percentage, 2.52 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (14.5%, 23rd)
Vegas (21.2%, 12th)

Penalty kill
Chicago (81.1%, 17th)
Vegas (87.7%, Third)

Shots for/against
Chicago (30.8, 20th; 36.8, 30th)
Vegas (33.4, 10th; 32.3, 11th)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (8.60%)
Vegas (8.50%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (48.6%, 24th)
Vegas (48.9%, 23rd)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 196 pounds
Vegas — 6-foot-2, 202 pounds

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 — Adam Boqvist

Vegas Golden Knights

       Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore — Nicolas Hague
Jon Merrill — Nick Holden

Analysis

In the Blackhawks’ victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team went back to the free-wheeling style from last season. The move to change offensive styles is directly related to the team’s lack of offensive production this season. Patrick Kane has gone from under producing on offense to one of the hottest players in the NHL in the last 10 days. Kane has 10 points in his last five games including three against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While the style change yielded five goals from the offense, it also yielded a team-high 57 shots against goaltender Robin Lehner. Luckily for the Blackhawks, one of the strengths of this team has been the play of their goaltenders, particularly Lehner, who matched a career-high 53 saves against the Maple Leafs. The last time he faced over 50 shots was in 2013 against the New York Islanders. In addition to matching his career-high in saves, Lehner also became the first goaltender since Nikolai Khabibulin to record 50-plus saves in a game. Khabibulin accomplished his feat of 56 saves in 2007 against the Detroit Red Wings. Head coach Jeremy Colliton will go with Corey Crawford, though, against the struggling Vegas Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights are returning home after suffering an overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. With the loss to Detroit, the Golden Knights finished off their four-game road trip with three straight losses. The issue plaguing the Golden Knights is third-period penalties, which have helped opponents outscore Vegas 16–15 in the third period. While yielding third-period goals is an issue, the Golden Knights also have trouble scoring third-period goals. One goal has been scored in the third period by the Golden Knights in their last four games.

If the Golden Knights want to right the ship against the Blackhawks, they need to get more productions from Mark Stone and Paul Stastny. Leading scorer Stone is pointless in his last four games, while Stastny is pointless in his last six games.

Can the free-wheeling offense of the Blackhawks yield another victory or will the Golden Knights solve their period woes at home?

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game right here on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vegas Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton kept the lines just as they were on Sunday’s game. He opted to go with Robin Lehner in net instead of Corey Crawford this time around.

These were the Blackhawks’ lines:

Alex DeBrincat — Jonathan Toews — Andrew Shaw

Dylan Strome — Kirby Dach — Patrick Kane

Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik

Drake Caggiula — Ryan Carpenter — Alexander Nylander

Duncan Keith — Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook

Calvin de Haan — Erik Gustafsson

First period

The first ten minutes of the game were relatively boring. Through the first 8:12, however, the Blackhawks outshot Vegas 8–1 and led them in shot attempts as well. Each team took penalties and not a whole lot of action occurred on either power play. There were some changes for the Blackhawks’ power play though, as Alexander Nylander was shifted to the first unit and Dylan Strome was shifted to the second.

What wasn’t boring was Kirby Dach’s play in that first period. At one point, he tried to dance around a defender and drive toward the net. That didn’t work, but he did create a great chance for Patrick Kane that Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury robbed.

With less than five minutes to go in the frame, Olli Maatta entered the zone, passed the puck back and forth with Dylan Strome, and circled around the board. From the right above the right faceoff dot, Maatta snapped the puck toward the net and it bounced off of Dach’s knee and into the net. Of course, that would be the 18-year-old’s first career NHL goal. It wasn’t pretty, but the celly was awesome.

Kirby Dach scores his first NHL goal and the #Blackhawks lead 1-0 pic.twitter.com/aAVO9DHes4

— Juliana Nikac (@juliananikac) October 23, 2019

Robin Lehner then had to bail the Blackhawks out on the second line’s next shift, as Kirby Dach failed to chase after a puck that dropped in the defensive zone and then gave it away just a few seconds later. Luckily, the Blackhawks entered the first intermission with a 1–0 lead and a 12–8 shot advantage over the Golden Knights.

Second period

Kirby Dach almost had another goal just minutes into the second period after he was left wide open yet again at the side of the net. Patrick Kane tried to slip a pass across to him, but Marc-Andre Fleury got the pad on it and deflected it away.

That trend of Fleury stopping ridiculous chances continued throughout the next 17 minutes or so. He made a huge save on the power play after Jonathan Toews backhanded a no-look pass to Alex DeBrincat, somehow getting across the crease to stop the impending shot. Fleury also stopped a great chance from Brandon Saad, who was buzzing in the offensive zone on the penalty kill.

Of course, Robin Lehner made a big save of his own on William Carrier after he buzzed by both Duncan Keith and Connor Murphy along the boards.

Lehner with his own big save. pic.twitter.com/1pHdNbNjna

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) October 23, 2019

It seemed as if the Blackhawks would end the second on the power play after Deryk Engelland threw Alex DeBrincat to the ice, but an errant high-stick from Jonathan Toews in the last minute of play negated that.

The Blackhawks held onto their 1–0 lead going into the second intermission with a 24–17 edge in shots over the visitors.

Third period

Somehow, the Blackhawks killed off the Toews double-minor to begin the final 20 minutes of regulation. From here on out, it was basically all Vegas.

Despite Marc-Andre Fleury being the primary generator of highlight-reel saves for the first two periods, Robin Lehner was the one standing on his head in the third. The Golden Knights outshot the Blackhawks 15-8 this period and generated two thirds of the shot attempts, as well.

With Fleury pulled and six skaters on for the Golden Knights, Mark Stone did what Mark Stone does best and sent a cross-ice pass to defenseman Nick Holden. His one-timer squeaked through the stick and five-hole of Lehner and Vegas tied the game with a minute and a half to go.

At the end of regulation, the Blackhawks and Golden Knights had 32 shots apiece.

Overtime

Outside of Jonathan Toews winning the faceoff to begin overtime, nothing went right for the Blackhawks during these five minutes. Vegas had possession the majority of the time. Then, Toews got called for tripping with less than two minutes to go even though Shea Theodore simply tripped over his own man.

Robin Lehner made a plethora of great saves, including the spectacular two-pad stop on Max Pacioretty that could’ve been the game-winning goal.

But it wasn’t, so we moved on to the shootout.

Shootout

Jonathan Toews opened the scoring with a great wrist shot over Fleury, but that’s the only puck he would allow past him for the rest of the shootout. Lehner stopped former Blackhawk Brandon Pirri, but couldn’t save Jonathan Marchessault‘s wrist shot or Shea Theodore’s backhander.

So, the Blackhawks fell to the Golden Knights 2-1 but picked up a point in the standings. They fell to 2-3-2 on the season and are now 0-5-2 against Vegas all time.

Pluses

• Brandon Saad has been an absolute menace for the Blackhawks to start the season. His intensity is sky-high and he’s everywhere at once when he’s on the ice. That shift by him on the penalty kill in the second period was ridiculous. If only his puck luck was as good as his work ethic.
• Other than the game-tying goal he let in, Robin Lehner was fantastic tonight. He’s been great in every game he’s played in, and it’s clear that he should be the starter. This is no slight to Corey Crawford, but the 28-year-old Lehner should be getting more time in net over the soon-to-be-35-year-old, especially given what he’s been through injury-wise over the last few years. This is basically a callout to Jeremy Colliton to let Lehner start more games.
• Kirby Dach had a fantastic night outside of one not-so-great shift. There’s a great amount of talent in this kid, and he’s been fun to watch over the last two games. He was easily one of the best offensive players for the Blackhawks tonight. If he continues to play the well, he’s going to make it difficult for management to decide if they want to send him back to Saskatoon or keep him in the show.

Minuses

• Connor Murphy didn’t play a single minute of the third period or overtime, and we found out after the game that he’ll be sidelined with a groin injury for a couple of weeks. That’s really tough news for the Blackhawks, as it seemed that their defense has finally gotten into a good groove and hasn’t been utterly abysmal for a few games. The only plus side is they have a large crop of defensemen they can call up from Rockford. It’s rough that Murphy keeps getting hurt, but that’s how sports go sometimes.

The Blackhawks will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks edged by Golden Knights in shootout 2–1 appeared first on The Rink.

7:30 p.m. CDT

United Center

TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starters

Chicago — Robin Lehner (1–0–1, .931 save percentage, 2.46 goals against average)

Vegas – Marc-Andre Fleury (6–2–0, .934 save percentage, 2.18 goals against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (16.7%, T-21st)
Vegas (28.6% Fifth)

Penalty kill
Chicago (66.7%, 29th)
Vegas (90.0%, Fourth)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (33.7, T-eighth; 33.7, Sixth)
Vegas (35.0, Fourth; 33.8, Fifth)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (8.9%)
Vegas (9.8%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (49.8%, 17th)
Vegas  (48.3%, 22nd)

Average height and weight
Chicago – 6-foot-1, 198 pounds
Vegas – 6-foot-2, 201 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex DeBrincat – Jonathan Toews – Andrew Shaw

  Dylan Strome – Kirby Dach – Patrick Kane

Brandon Saad – David Kampf – Dominik Kubalik

 Drake Caggiula – Ryan Carpenter – Alexander Nylander

Duncan Keith – Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta – Brent Seabrook

Calvin de Haan – Erik Gustafsson

Vegas Golden Knights

Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson — Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty – Paul Stastny – Mark Stone

Brandon Pirri – Cody Eakin – Cody Glass

William Carrier – Tomas Nosek – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill – Nick Holden

Jake Bischoff – Deryk Engelland

Analysis

In arguably the Blackhawks’ best game of the season, the team fell to the Washington Capitals Sunday night. Despite the loss, there were many positives from the game. The newest additions for the Blackhawks shone brightly. Kirby Dach made his NHL debut against Washington. Dach was the third overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft and had a solid opening night centering the second line featuring Dylan Strome and Patrick Kane.

Another star that shone brightly was winger Dominik Kubalík with 10 shots on goal and 14 shot attempts. Kubalik looks like a solid addition for the Blackhawks this season and the line of he, David Kampf and Brandon Saad continue to be the most dynamic line for the Blackhawks this far. But, not to be overshadowed, was the play of the fourth line, consisting of Drake Caggiula, Ryan Carpenter and Alexander Nylander, which produced two goals and four points in the 5–3 loss. Nylander has points in his last two games.

While offense does not seem to be an issue, the defense continues to be problematic, but there are still two additional areas of concern: The penalty kill and power play. Head coach Jeremy Colliton and his staff need to shore up these areas in their next contest because the Vegas Golden Knights excel on special teams.

The Knights, despite losing their last contest, have four wins in their last five games heading into tonight’s game. The hottest player on the Golden Knights is veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who leads the NHL with six wins and is 4–1 in his last five starts.

In addition to having the hottest goaltender in the league, the Knights also have hot forwards Reilly Smith and Mark Stone. Smith has seven goals and an assist while Stone has six goals and six assists this season for 12 points so far this season. The Blackhawks better be ready to weather another offensive onslaught. Can the Blackhawks shore up their special teams in this matchup?

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vegas Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

I am here to tell you something that you might find surprising coming from the “noted Stan Bowman basher.” The Blackhawks standing pat yesterday is good for the long term future of this team. Certainly, better than most of the alternatives, that is.

Welcome back…

This is exactly the scenario John Jaeckel, Tyler Cameron and I spoke about on last week’s Rinkcast. Outside of a few big names, at the all wrong positions, there was not much of a market for what the Blackhawks need. Defense comes at a premium price and an even higher price at the deadline. Rather than pillaging what little depth they have in the system; Stan Bowman chose to survive to fight another day.

I can respect that.

Another thing that this told me is that maybe (just maybe) the front office was smart enough to not buy into this recent playoff nonsense and were able to look at this team from 30,000 feet. The Blackhawks are a team using several improbable hot streaks to make their team look better than any of the supporting statistics. To put it bluntly, the defense is far too bad to fix with a panicked over payment at the deadline.

The Blackhawks need to be smarter than everyone else. Like I have been saying for weeks, they need to be shrewd with their moves. Sometimes shrewd means packing up your briefcase and calling it a day.

Still, the internet (and casual fan) outrage is almost embarrassing. There is simply too much irrational outrage over this year’s lack of deadline moves. Either people are not properly informed, or they just want the team to make moves for the sake of making moves. Regardless of need or common sense.

Let me debunk some myths and meatball outrage that’s floating around this wonderful thing called the internet.

The Hawks could have and should have made and offer for Mark Stone.

Sure. They might have been able to put together a comparable deal to what Vegas did in acquiring the former Ottawa wing. He is a great player. I cannot deny that. Mark Stone is definitely an upgrade over Dominik Kahun, Dylan Sikura, or John Hayden. The question is: Does Mark Stone, alone, make this team a legit Stanley Cup contender?

No, he does not.

Mark Stone can put a very good team in the conversation as a contender. Much like another meatball pipe dream, Artemi Panarin, Mark Stone does nothing to help keep the puck out of the back of the Blackhawks net. This is not the only conundrum, though. If the Blackhawks were to “beat” the Vegas offer, it would have started with a deal resembling Adam Boqvist, David Kampf (who is injured), and a second-round draft pick. This also takes absolutely nothing else into account.

One would have to assume that if the Senators were going to deal Stone, it was going to be to a legit cup contender. Not some house of smoke and mirrors that will most likely end up in the lottery before the playoffs. Then the only thing you’re really acquiring is the right to sign Stone to an extra eight year on a long-term deal. Is giving up your top prospect worth still getting swept in the first round or not making the playoffs at all?

No, it is absolutely NOT worth it.

Another thing that the casual observers are discounting is that Mark Stone is a top line right wing that will make roughly $9.5M (we’ll talk about this later) and expects to play 20 plus minutes a night. Guess who else is a top line right wing that makes $10.5M and expects to play 22 plus minutes a night?

Patrick Kane.

There is simply not enough time in a game to accommodate these players. One of these players would have to cut their time significantly and when you’re paying $20M for two players, that is a tough pill to swallow. I promise you Patrick Kane is not getting pulled off the ice for anyone.

The Blackhawks top six of Caggiula, Toews, Kane, DeBrincat, Strome and Kahun is pretty solid. Keep in mind, this scenario still has Brandon Saad playing on the third line. If you swap Saad for Caggiula, that’s an even more solid top six. Mark Stone is a very nice player, if you don’t have Patrick Kane. Would he ever earn his keep? Probably not.

The last point that needs to be brought up is the tax-vs-salary implications. Now, I am certainly no accountant but this might add a wrinkle into the “supposed” UFA deal Stan Bowman could have offered Stone.

Quick note on Stone’s new 8-year, $9.5M AAV deal… Vegas has no state tax. That’s equivalent to almost $13M in Ottawa

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 25, 2019

In Illinois, this would equate to approximately $350,000. Little things make a difference.

This brings me back to my original point. Who is helping to keep the Blackhawks from facing 35 shots a night and the most high-danger chances against in the league? Not a right wing, that’s for sure. Can he help? Certainly “some“, but not enough to drop a second mortgage on the United Center.

Why didn’t the Hawks trade for the defenseman/defensemen they need? Buncha failures!

My gripe with the casual outrage on this subject is that the market for defenseman was either nonexistent or grossly overpriced. The defensemen that were moved Monday were Nick Jensen, Ben Lovejoy, Connor Carrick, Brandon Montour, Adam McQuaid, Oscar Fantenberg, Erik Gudbranson, Bogdan Kiselevich, and Chris Wideman. Do any of these guys keep the puck out of the Blackhawks net?

Maybe; but probably not. They are certainly not worth over paying to acquire and none of them make this current Blackhawks team a legit cup contender.

Bowman would be better off dealing at the draft, or during the summer, to acquire defensemen. He will get better market value and will have more roster flexibility. I said this on twitter yesterday, but it looks to me that the front office took a “lose-without-losing-on-purpose” mentality. We should all be OK with this.

Where I would have liked to see some movement is players that don’t have a place with the team going forward, like Gustav Forsling, but not worth making an issue over. Let’s see what Bowman does at the draft in June before we freak out, eh?

The post Analysis: How Did Stan Bowman do at the Trade Deadline? appeared first on The Rink.

Golden Knights Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland and Max Pacioretty paced the second year franchise with four points each, coming in, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was boasting a 3.01 goals against average with his 2-0-0 record against the Blackhawks.

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

Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Henri Jokiharju – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy

In goal, the Blackhawks had rookie Collin Delia, making his third start in a row.  Most notable scratch was brand new Blackhawks defenseman Slater Koekkoek (KOO-KOO), who was acquired late Friday afternoon for Jan Rutta. Brendan Perlini and Brandon Davidson also took the night off.

Period One
For the first three minutes of the game, the Blackhawks were thoroughly out-played but Alex DeBrincat made amends about two minutes later. The “Cat” intercepted a puck on the way to Marc-Andre Fleury, and tucked it around the veteran’s pads for a Blackhawks 1-0 lead. This was Debrincat’s fourth goal in as many games, who has obviously heated up once again, lately.

Have a holly jolly volley, Alex!

Text HAWKSGIVE to 52-182 to support the #Blackhawks Foundation!#BlackhawksGive pic.twitter.com/PB3V9amgSD

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2019

With about eight minutes remaining in the opening period the Blackhawks seemed to have taken a 2-0 lead, when Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome crashed the net. Kane found a loose puck and beat Fleury, but Vegas coach Gerard Gallant challenged a missed offside call when the Blackhawks entered the zone. As a result the goal was overturned.

Kane didn’t stay off the score sheet for much longer, though. Following a high sticking penalty against new Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula, with just over five minutes left in the first period, the recently hot power play went to work. Kane tried to beat Fleury from the top of the right circle but the initial shot was blocked. Kane followed up his original shot and used a Vegas defenders skate to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead.

I Kane see clearly now!

Text HAWKSGIVE to 52-182 to support the #Blackhawks Foundation.#BlackhawksGive pic.twitter.com/EUwiOldAKg

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2019

The Golden Knights had some serious pressure on Blackhawks starter Collin Delia, in the final minutes of the period, but hit the crossbar twice. Vegas also led in shots 11-10 as the teams hit the locker rooms.

Period Two
A minutes and half into the second period, the Blackhawks had some problems clearing the front of their net and Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch was able to beat a loose puck past Delia, who had some difficulty gathering the rebound into his glove.

After Brandon Saad drew a high-sticking double minor penalty the hard way, the Blackhawks went back on the powerplay. As has been the result, lately, they cashed in on the ensuing man advantage.

Patrick Kane held on to the puck long enough to draw all the attention from the penalty killers, which opened up gaping area for Alex DeBrincat to slide into. Kane dished a perfect pass into DeBrincat’s wheelhouse and the young wing hit the back of the net.

One can never get tired of watching these #KanerAndTheCat plays!

Text HAWKSGIVE to 52-182 to support the #Blackhawks Foundation.#BlackhawksGive pic.twitter.com/w4FNrPCOmH

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 13, 2019

As the period wound down, the Golden Knights cut the Blackhawks lead down to just one goal. Ryan Carpenter curled the puck slightly back into himself as he entered the Chicago zone and used defenseman Carl Dahlstrom as a screen. Just as Dahlstrom’s leg cleared, Carpenter snapped the puck over Delia’s glove.

The home team was out shot (once again) in the second period 10-8 and 21-18 overall, as they went into the third period up 3-2.

Period Three
With about seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Golden Knights got a goal off the skate of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, but Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton challenged the play. The war room in Toronto ruled that the puck was directed in with a kicking motion and the score remained 3-2 in favor of the home team.

That Blackhawks lead did not last much longer, as Paul Stastny got a generous carom off the post and only had to beat Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy to potentially send the game to overtime with four minutes remaining in regulation.  The Golden Knights led the Blackhawks in shots on net 12-5 in the third period, so it was pretty incredible that Chicago only gave up one goal.

In overtime, Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore beat Carl Dahlstrom around the edge and then got a lucky deflection off Dahlstrom’s stick to beat Delia. That gave Vegas the extra point, but the Blackhawks were lucky to be in that position anyway.

Pluses

• Alex DeBrincat has been excellent.  He has goals in four straight games and two in this game. Certainly, nice to see him getting red-hot, once again. His major downfall is his streakiness, so if he can fix that issue he will be even more deadly, if you can imagine that.
• Speaking of Alex’s, Alex Tuch is a beast of a player.  How did Minnesota let him go?  Well, it’s certainly better for the Blackhawks if he is not in the Central Division, so I’m not complaining.
• If not for an unfortunate missed offside call, Patrick Kane would have had three points.

Minuses

• Henri Jokiharju has not looked like he did before he left for the World Junior Championships. It could have something to do with not having a former Norris trophy by his side, or it might be that he was playing his off-side. Either way, he needs to be better, with eight defensemen on the roster.
• When you’re out shot 33-23, at home, and only lose 4-3 in overtime, you are playing with fire.  Goaltending is not the problem with this Blackhawks team, plain and simple.  GIVING UP TEN MORE SHOTS THAN YOUR OPPONENT IS THE PROBLEM!That said, there might be a goal that Delia wants back but he was a huge reason they made it to overtime in the first place.  Not only were the Hawks out-shot, but they also gave up more high danger opportunities, 8-6.
• I’m not sure who broke Dylan Strome, but he won only 5-15 faceoffs.
• Why was Carl Dahlstrom even on the ice in a 3vs3 situation?  They had at least four better options.  Murphy and Dahlstrom were absolutely caved in all night.  They were -12 in shot differential when they were on the ice, 5-on-5.
• I have no idea what Chris Kunitz does.  Neither do you.  No one does.  He’s playing fourth line, so it really doesn’t matter, but he is a waste of a roster spot.  At this point, I’d rather see Graham Knott out there and I’m not a fan of Knott, at all.

The post RECAP: Golden Knights Drop Blackhawks 4-3 in OT appeared first on The Rink.

7:30pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Collin Delia (3–1–2, SV%: .939, GAA: 2.49)
Vegas – Marc-Andre Fleury (25–11–4, SV%: .912, GAA: 2.48)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (16.7%, T23rd)
Vegas (19.0%, 17th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.9%, 31st)
Vegas (83.8%, 7th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.5, 18th; 34.8, 30th)
Vegas (33.1, 5th; 28.6, 3rd)

Shooting %
Chicago (9.2%, 18th)
Vegas (9.1%, 21st)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.6%, 18th)
Vegas (49.4%, 19th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Vegas 6’1” 200lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dominik Kahun

Artem Anisimov–Dylan Strome–Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat–David Kampf–Brendan Perlini

John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Drake Caggiula

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Henri Jokiharju–Brent Seabrook

Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

Vegas Golden Knights

Jonathan Marchessault–William Karlsson–Brandon Pirri

Max Pacioretty–Paul Stastny–Alex Tuch

Oscar Lindberg–Cody Eakin–Ryan Carpenter

Tomas Nosek–Pierre-Edouard Bellemare–Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb–Nate Schmidt

Shea Theodore–Deryk Engelland

Jon Merrill–Nick Holden

Analysis

Fresh off of another disappointing overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night, the Blackhawks look to rebound against the “boys from Sin City” as they welcome the Golden Knights to town. Although giving up four goals last time out, Collin Delia once again draws the start in net for the Blackhawks.

The only major change that is likely for the Blackhawks on Saturday is the “left side debut” of Henri Jokiharju. Reports indicate that the young Finnish defenseman will play the left side while paired with Brent Seabrook. Blackhawks fans will have to wait on the debut of Slater Koekkoek, after he was acquired for Jan Rutta on Friday, according to head coach Jeremy Colliton. However, Koekkeok was on the ice for morning skate wearing number 68. Duncan Keith, who missed practice with illness, was also on the ice for morning skate.

The Golden Knights come into the United Center as one of the hottest teams in hockey. Prior to their 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night, the Golden Knights were riding a seven-game win streak. There is no doubt that the Golden Knights will look to start a new winning streak at 1901 W. Madison on Saturday night.

The Golden Knights’ MVP to this point in the season has without a doubt been goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. “Flower” has found the fountain of youth since being picked in the expansion draft by Vegas. After a magical season last year, Fleury is putting together yet another strong campaign. He currently paces the NHL in both wins (25) and shutouts (6) while also maintaining a spot in the top 10 for goals against average (GAA).

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. Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

Recap:

FIRST PERIOD

The first period got off to a horrendous start for the visiting team with Artem Anisimov taking a tripping penalty early resulting in Vegas forward Reilly Smith tapping in his own rebound over Corey Crawford for a power play goal.  The goal was only 1:28 into the first period and gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Each team exchanged chances until 8:14 in the period when Deryk Engelland sniped one past the glove of Crawford to put the Golden Knights up 2-0.  After the rough start the Hawks didn’t lay down, though, with forward Patrick Kane taking over the period himself with a few great chances.

Unfortunately, the chances did not result in goals and the Blackhawks end the first period down 2-0 to the Golden Knights. Shots were 15-10 Vegas

SECOND PERIOD

Four minutes into the second period, on a fantastic solo effort, captain Jonathan Toews banked a puck off the end boards off Vegas goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury’s right pad and into the back of the net.  That goal was Toews’ 13th of the season and got the Blackhawks on the scoreboard.  Still, 2-1 Golden Knights, though.

At the 16:15 mark, off a missed shot by Patrick Kane, recently acquired center Dylan Strome rifled a shot in behind Fleury from a tight angle to get his 6th of the year. Strome, who is off to a pleasant start in Chicago, evened up the scoring 2-2.

A Strome's a-brewin in Vegas #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/I5SWZZlG22

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 7, 2018

Shortly after the Strome goal, Vegas forward Thomas Nosek collided with Corey Crawford as the puck was rifled into the net. The call on the ice was ruled no goal due to goaltender interference, which was challenged by Vegas and ruled no goal. Second period ended with the score tied 2-2. Shots were 27-26 in favor of the Blackhawks.

THIRD PERIOD

7:14 into the period, Artem Anisimov stole an ill-advised pass in the Vegas zone for a great chance and roofed a backhand over Fleury for a beautiful 6th goal of the year to give the Hawks the 3-2 lead.

Less than a minute later, the wheels fell off the bus for the Hawks as Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault scored on a great wrist shot from the top of the circle to tie the game, but it did not end there. Fourteen seconds later, Vegas forward Alex Tuch scored on a questionable play to give the Vegas Golden Knights the 4-3 lead, which could have also been a goaltender interference call.

Unfortunately the Blackhawks could not come back from the 1 goal deficit, and fell 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Bringing their losing streak to a dangerously high 6 games. Shots were 36-35 Vegas.

Final Thoughts:

• The Blackhawks Centres were fantastic in the faceoff dot against the Knights. Toews (70%), Anisimov (67%) and Strome (56%).
• The power play continues to be the worst in hockey, going 0-4 on the PP tonight.

The Blackhawks look to bounce back Sunday at home as they host the Montreal Canadiens.

The post RECAP: Two Quick Goals Bury Blackhawks in Vegas appeared first on The Rink.

9:00pm CST, 7:00pm PST
T-Mobile Arena
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Cam Ward (4–3–4, SV%: .888, GAA: 3.91)
Vegas– Marc-Andre Fleury (15–9–1, SV%: .912, GAA: 2.40)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (12.1%, 31st)
Vegas (19.4%, 15th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.8%, 29th)
Vegas (84.9%, T-2nd)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.7, 13th; 33.6, 26th)
Vegas (33.0, T-7th; 27.6, T-1st)

Shooting %
Chicago (8.6%, 26th)
Vegas (9.0%, T-21st)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.7%,17th)
Vegas (48.6%, T-22nd)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Vegas 6’1” 199lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Brendan Perlini
John Hayden–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Alexandre Fortin
Dominik Kahun–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger
Duncan Keith–Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning–Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson–Gustav Forsling

Vegas Golden Knights

Jon Marchessault–William Karlsson–Reilly Smith
Oscar Lindberg–Cody Eakin–Alex Tuch
Daniel Carr–Ryan Carpenter–Tomas Nosek
William Carrier–Pierre-Edouard Bellemare–Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb–Nate Schmidt–
Shea Theodore–Deryk Engelland
Nick Holden–Colin Miller

Analysis

Chicago has surrendered the first goal in eight consecutive games. A better start is needed from the struggling Blackhawks tonight in Vegas.

Erik Gustafsson has played well offensively. The 26-year old Swedish defenseman has three goals in his last five games. However, as assistant coach Barry Smith mentioned between periods last night, Gustafsson needs to develop on the defensive end of the ice.

Expect Cam Ward in net tonight, after Corey Crawford played the front end of the back-to-back last night. Ward stopped 25 of 29 shots in a loss to Nashville five days ago.

Vegas plays a stingy defense, supported by his league leading 27.6 shots against per game, not a good sign for a Chicago team averaging 2.72 goals per game. Scoring balance throughout the lineup has been lacking all season.

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 Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

There was some anticipation ahead of the game with the addition of Dylan Strome and Brandon Perlini in the Nick Schmaltz trade but the Blackhawks were also without Henri Jokiharju due to illness.

First Period

Daniel Carr got the Golden Knights on the board first with his first goal of the season at 2:10. A 3 on 2 turned into a 2 on 1 and he went top shelf over Corey Crawford’s glove side after a beautiful backhand saucer pass by Tomas Nosek.

For a minute it seemed like the Blackhawks responded as Dominik Kahun tapped one past Fleury who lost his net. Unfortunately, the goal was overturned on a Vegas challenge and Kahun was clearly offsides as he came into the offensive zone. A couple minutes later the Kahun-Anisimov-Kampf line had another solid opportunity but Fleury made a great save to stop Kampf.

At 12:14 Alex Tuch put the Golden Knights up 2-0 with an assist from Crawford. Crawford tried to play the puck but his pass went off the boards to Tuch who sniped it top shelf.

The Blackhawks couldn’t convert on terrific chances by Strome or Toews but the Golden Knights had no problem extending the lead 3-0. Cody Eakin snuck in behind the defense and pulled out a nice forehand-backhand move to freeze Crawford.

A minute later Shea Theodore was called for Interference but it was more of the same for the Blackhawks as they could not convert on the power play.

Second Period

Gustav Forsling got the Blackhawks on the board :29 into the period on a long shot from the blue line that was redirected by the Golden Knights.

After 5 minutes of back and forth play Patrick Kane was called for a high-sticking on Theodore. The Golden Knights were able to capitalize on the power play as William Karlsson sniped a shot over Crawford’s glove hand again as the result of a good screen by Ryan Reaves to make it 4-1.

Strome as was able to get one back for the Blackhawks at 11:16 after Kane slid a pass in front of the net that ended up on his stick. The new Blackhawks center did a good job of getting to the front of the net and was rewarded.

Just two minutes later Strome lost a faceoff to Reaves that went directly to Deryk Engelland who snapped one that redirected off of Reaves and past Crawford to extend the lead to 5-2.

With just :06 seconds left in the period Theodore scored with a shot that was redirected in between John Hayden’s legs to make the score 6-2 Golden Knights and that’s where the period ended.

Third Period

Crawford was pulled and Cam Ward started the final period for the Blackhawks and made a few saves. Forsling was called for a delay of game at 4:38 as he shot the puck over the glass. Just one minute later Karlsson was called for tripping Saad to create some 4 on 4 hockey.

Ten seconds later the Golden Knights capitalized on the spacious ice as Theodore coralled a puck on edge and knuckled one past Ward. Vegas extended the lead 7-2 and things were spiraling out of control for the Blackhawks.

It didn’t get better as an Eakin shot redirected off of Saad and then off of Keith’s skate right past Ward to make it 8-2. Erik Gustafsson was able to put home a Strome pass at 15:15 as Vegas was clearly in cruise control. The Hawks trailed 8-3.

That’s where it ended as the Vegas Golden Knights extended their winning streak to 4 games in dominating fashion over the Blackhawks.

There wasn’t much positive to build on and there is no use harping on all of the things that went wrong. There were too many and though it wouldn’t have made much difference, the Blackhawks had no puck luck. This is one of the games the team has to just put behind them and more forward.

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for Blackhawks news and random hockey musings.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Thwarted By Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

7:30pm p.m. CST/5:30pm PST
United Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (5 – 8 – 1, SV%: .914, GAA: 2.68)
Vegas– Marc-Andre Fleury (12 – 8 – 1, SV%: .913, GAA: 2.33)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (12.6%, 31st)
Vegas (17.7%, 22nd)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (75.0%,T-27h)
Vegas (82.4%, 6th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (33.0, T-7th; 33.1, 27th)
Vegas (33.0, T-7th; 27.2, 2nd)

Shooting %
Chicago (8.2%, 27th)
Vegas (8.3%, 26th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (50.1%,16th)
Vegas (47.6%, 1T-28h)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Vegas 6’1” 199lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–John Hayden
Alex DeBrincat–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane
Alexandre Fortin–David Kampf–Dominik Kahun
Brendan Perlini–Dylan Strome–Marcus Kruger
Duncan Keith–Gustav Forsling
Erik Gustafsson–Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning–Brent Seabrook

Vegas Golden Knights

Jon Marchessault–William Karlsson–Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty–Cody Eakin–Alex Tuch
Tomas Nosek–Ryan Carpenter–Daniel Carr
William Carrier–Pierre-Edouard Bellemare–Ryan Reaves
Nate Schmidt–Brayden McNabb
Colin Miller–Nick Holden
Shea Theodore–Deryk Engelland

Analysis

Chicago acquired forwards Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini from Arizona for forward Nick Schmaltz on Sunday evening. General Manager Stan Bowman stated after the trade, “We are better today than we were yesterday.” As with any trade, time will tell.

Tonight, the Blackhawks take the ice after defeating the Florida Panthers 5-4 in overtime. The five goals were the first time the Hawks scored more than three in a game since October 25th versus the New York Rangers, a span of thirteen games.

Vegas defeated Chicago all three times last season, which was Vegas’ inaugural season in the NHL. The Golden Knights have played .500 hockey this season, not getting the hot start as last season, when they shocked the hockey world and made the Stanley Cup finals.

Forward Jon Marchessault leads Vegas in goals (10) and points (20), while center William Karlsson leads in assists (12). Winger Max Pacioretty, acquired from Montreal in an off-season trade, currently rides a five-game point streak (6 goals, 1 assists).

Corey Crawford and Marc-Andre Fleury are expected in net tonight. The veterans have combined to raise the Stanley Cup five times in their careers (Crawford-2, Fleury-3).

Henri Jokiharju did not participate in the morning skate, due to an illness, and will be a game-time decision.

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 Golden Knights appeared first on The Rink.

After losing an embarrassing game to the Arizona Coyotes Monday night, the Blackhawks traveled to Las Vegas to take on the Golden Knights 24 hours later.  The lines continued to be shaken up as head coach Joel Quenneville sat Anthony Duclair and Vinnie Hinostroza for Patrick Sharp and Ryan Hartman.  Carl Dahlstrom started the game on the 1st defensive pairing with Duncan Keith in just his second NHL game.  The ‘Hawks seemed like they came out with more of a purpose tonight, wanting to reverse a bad streak of losses.

It was noticeable the Hawks knew they were going up against one of the top teams in the West.  They were heavy on the forecheck and were really skating with the Knights all night.  At least until the third period when the wheels came off the wagon, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

In the first period, the Blackhawks took advantage of an early power play when Tommy Wingels scored on a tipped Erik Gustafsson shot from the point.  Wingels started the game on the first line with Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews and has been rewarded with power play time for his efforts.  He certainly cashed in on the opportunity.  But just minutes later, the Golden Knights’ Ryan Carpenter stuffed in a shot from behind the net that tied the game at one.  The Hawks were lucky to get out of the period tied because they had three minor penalties in the first alone.

In the second period, Tommy Wingels almost had another chance to score but Marc-Andre Fleury came out to challenge him and knocked the puck away.  Later in the period, Patrick Sharp was awarded a penalty shot because Fleury pushed a loose stick in his direction which is illegal.  Sharp however missed on the shot.  The only goal in the period was from the stick of rookie Alex DeBrincat who scored his 21st of the season on a one-time shot from the slot.

The Hawks started the third period on the penalty kill but couldn’t stop the Knights when Brad Hunt scored on a long point shot.  Two minutes later Riley Smith scored on the second shot in the period, then another two minutes later David Perron scored on the third shot of the period.  The Blackhawks pulled their goalie with three minutes left in the 3rd but Tomas Nosek put the game away with an empty net goal.

The Blackhawks ended the game being out-shot by the Golden Knights 37 to 31.  Jeff Glass wasn’t the best tonight, but I don’t think a cold Anton Forsberg could’ve saved this one either.  The Hawks let up a lot off odd-man rushes and a couple soft goals were let in.  It’s just disappointing that the Hawks went into the 3rd period up 2-1 and just laid an egg.

If you had to take away some positives from this game, you have to start with Alex DeBrincat.  This kid is throwing everything at the net and finding success.  Tommy Wingels was also noticeable with a goal tonight and a lot of good chances.

You have to wonder what the Hawks have to do to get out of this funk.  They have less than a 2% chance of making the playoffs, they have lost seven games in a row, and seem to be in a free fall of sorts.  Do they need to make a coaching change?  Do they need to make a big trade?  Do players need to be benched or given less minutes?  There are a lot of questions that need to be answered as we near this year’s trade deadline, but there’s no doubt something drastic needs to happen.  The number of under-achieving players on this team is unacceptable and seems to be a theme.  This team has packed it in.

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