10 observations: Blackhawks hand Vegas first loss with comeback win in overtime originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime on Friday at T-Mobile Arena.
Here are 10 observations from the win:
1. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson put his team through an intense practice on Thursday after being unhappy about Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to Boston. Overall, the Blackhawks responded with a significantly better effort despite the slow start out of the gates.
2. The Blackhawks did not have a single power play in regulation; they finally got one in overtime when Connor Bedard was tripped, which wasn’t much, and they capitalized on it thanks to Philipp Kurashev, who scored his first goal of the season.
By the way, the Blackhawks were also on the penalty kill four times, which included twice in the second half of the third period. A big 4-for-4 night in that department.
3. Bedard’s line with Nick Foligno and Kurashev was Chicago’s most noticeable. The three of them generated 10 scoring chances when they were on the ice together at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick. That was easily Foligno’s best game with the Blackhawks so far. He was dialed in.
4. Ryan Donato and Bedard tied the game up after scoring within 1:19 of each other later in the first period. Bedard scored his third goal of the season — his second against Vegas — but what an effort by Foligno to get him the puck. Bedard pointed to him right after scoring and yelled: “Nice [expletive] pass.” Indeed, it was. And this time, the goal wasn’t taken away from him.
5. The Golden Knights came out flying. They scored two goals in the first four minutes of the game and very much looked like the part of a what was an undefeated defending Stanley Cup champion team. It looked like things were going to get out of hand. But that wasn’t the case.
6. The Blackhawks broke their goaltending rotation for the first time this season by giving Petr Mrazek a second consecutive start; Arvid Söderblom played against Vegas on Saturday, so they probably wanted to give a different look. After giving up goals on consecutive shots to open the game, Mrazek stopped the next 15 shots he faced before allowing another. Solid bounce-back.
7. Alex Vlasic left the game in the second period and did not return after taking a high hit from Golden Knights forward Brett Howden. Vlasic looked a little disoriented after the hit and needed a few seconds to collect himself.
I didn’t see any head contact, but Richardson was seen yelling to the official about it being a potential blindside hit. It’s hard to disagree with him. The Blackhawks are obviously sensitive to that hit because it’s what knocked out Taylor Hall, who’s on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
8. Jason Dickinson was bumped up to the second line to play with Taylor Raddysh and Lukas Reichel, and the three of them had a strong game. Reichel, most notably, had a decent night at the faceoff circle, too. He won five of his first seven draws before losing his final two.
9. In the first meeting against Vegas, the Blackhawks had 18 giveaways. They had only four in this game. Puck management was much better. The Golden Knights had 14 giveaways.
10. Andreas Athanasiou was a healthy scratch for the first time since being a Blackhawk. I was a little surprised to see that, especially for an offensively-starved team, but if nothing else, I don’t mind the message it sends in the locker room. It will certainly get everyone’s attention.
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