The Chicago Blackhawks have been adept at playing well against the best teams in the NHL this season. This phenomenon continued Saturday night, as they beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 at the United Center.
Interim head coach Anders Sorensen wanted his team to get out a fast start early. That should be the game plan every night, especially when facing a team that played the night before, like the Golden Knights.
“It’s something we want to take advantage of,” Sorensen said. “Let’s jump on them early. Let’s get on our forecheck early, especially. That’s been a big part of our game right now.”
Vegas struck first thanks to some poor puck management and some lax defense by Alex Vlasic that left Victor Olofsson wide open the 100th goal of his career. Then, the Blackhawks owned the second half of the opening frame..
Lukas Reichel breathed some life into the sold-out United Center with his prettiest goal of the season. He used his speed to chip a bouncing puck away from Nic Hauge, then went forehand backhand for his fourth goal of the season.
Tyler Bertuzzi doubled the lead 40 seconds later while on the power play by redirecting a Seth Jones shot in behind Ilya Samsonov. Taylor Hall joined the party by sweeping home a rebound to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead with 18 seconds left in the first period.
The Blackhawks surely carried all this momentum into the second period and pulled away with an easy victory, right? If you thought that would happen, you haven’t been paying attention this season. After having a 25-18 shot attempt advantage in the opening stanza, the Blackhawks got dominated in the middle frame. Vegas had 37 shot attempts to the Blackhawks’ 10. They got a pair of goals from Tomas Hertl, including one on the power play, to draw even.
For the second straight period, the Blackhawks scored in the final minute. Jones found himself just above the right dot with time and space and ripped the puck to the far post for his fourth goal of the season.
“That goal by Jonesy was huge at the end of the second period,” captain Nick Foligno said. “It stabilized us, and we took over from there. I was really proud of the guys and the resolve we had.”
Bertuzzi gave the Blackhawks a huge insurance goal four minutes into the third period. With Hertl in the penalty box, he went to his favorite spot at the left post, dropped to one knee, and directed a Teuvo Teravainen pass into the net for his second tally of the night.
Success Starts from the Inside Out
Before the game, Sorensen said the key to drawing penalties was getting to the inside on Vegas.
“The more you get on the inside and being active in the inside is going to help a lot in drawing penalties,” he said. “That’s really the only way, right? If you get stuck on the perimeter, you won’t draw a lot. We need to be in on the interior, finding loose pucks to get engaged that way.”
That mindset not only worked, as the Blackhawks drew three penalties and scored on two of the ensuing power plays, but also helped them throughout the night.
“I thought we played heavy against a team that requires it,” Foligno said. “We need more of that.”
While we love watching highlight-reel goals on our phones and tablets, most goals in the NHL come from the “dirty area” of the ice. The difference-making goals aren’t ones that live on in pregame hype videos for years to come, but rather the ones scored from in close off a rebound or a deflection. Three of the Blackhawks’ five goals were scored that way. As you can see from the heat map provided by Natural Stat Trick, they were targeting that area of the ice all night long. Consistently playing this way is how you win games.
Bertuzzi Has His Spot
I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t a fan of the Bertuzzi deal when it was signed on July 1. His first month on the team made me fear that I was right. However, I will gladly eat crow and admit that I was wrong. In a season where general manager Kyle Davidson is under fire, the addition of Bertuzzi has turned out to be one hell of a move.
After his big night, Bertuzzi leads the team with 16 goals and seven power-play strikes. Foligno and Tyler Johnson led the Blackhawks last season with eight power-play goals.
“I’m starting to feel better,” Bertuzzi said. “Just coming into games and being better prepared. Our chemistry, me and Connor, keeps kind of growing as we go. The biggest thing for us, and we talk about it, is being better defensively. The last few games we have, and we need to continue to do that.”
As far as his spot at the left post, he credits his teammates for making plays, and all he has to do is put his stick there.
Late-Period Magic
The Blackhawks scored a goal in the final minute of the first and second periods. Coaches and analysts always say that goals in the first and last minutes of a period play a significant role in winning.
“You know when they go against you, how deflating they can be,” Foligno said. “I’m just so proud of us for understanding how important that moment is, not just to be okay with going into the period tied or getting a shot on net.”
Jones’ goal in the second period turned out to be the game-winner. As Foligno said, he “put it through the back of the net.” The veteran defenseman smiled when asked about the importance of late goals, as this team has been on the wrong side of them too many times.
“I think we’re used to letting up goals in the last minute of periods this year,” he said. “You see the momentum you carry into the intermission and into the next period when you get goals and play solid hockey. It gives us a jump start and we’re lively in here, we’re energetic in intermission when we score a goal late, and it translates to the next period. That’s awesome that we could play a complete 20-minute period and not have those five, 10-minute lulls when we give up two, three, four goals in a row.”
