10 observations: Hawks rally for first win of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Blackhawks rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 at SAP Center on Saturday for their first win of the 2022-23 season.
Here are 10 observations from the win:
1. In the first 11:12 of the game, the Blackhawks outshot the Sharks 6-0. In the final 8:48 of the opening frame, the Blackhawks were outshot 9-2 and outscored 2-0. The Sharks found their legs in the second half, and the Blackhawks couldn’t take advantage of their early power-play opportunity. Fortunately for the Blackhawks, it didn’t matter in the end…
2. The Blackhawks scored only two shorthanded goals all of last season. Well, they already matched that total this season through three games after Sam Lafferty scored two shorthanded tallies in a span of 2:08 in the second period to put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2. It was a wild turn of events. By the way, Lafferty’s career-high in goals is six. He’s already four away from matching that with 79 games left.
3. Jason Dickinson, who was acquired by Chicago eight days ago, officially had his visa approved and made his team debut. It went better than even he probably could have imagined. Dickinson registered the primary assist on both of Lafferty’s shorthanded goals, and then scored one of his own in the third period to make it 5-2.
4. The Blackhawks had zero even-strength goals in the first two games, but they finally broke through when Jonathan Toews opened the scoring for Chicago with his second goal of the season. I would argue Toews was the Blackhawks’ best player on the three-game road trip.
5. Taylor Raddysh scored his first goal of the season, but it was Tyler Johnson who made the play happen after he blocked a point shot that led to a breakaway. Raddysh immediately pointed to Johnson after the goal to give him some love after he put his body on the line seconds before.
6. The Blackhawks scored five goals in this game and Patrick Kane had zero points. I don’t think we’re going to see that again this season.
7. The Blackhawks had a 14.7 percent chance of winning when they committed their too many men on the ice penalty at the 5:05 mark of the second period, according to Money Puck. They rallied to beat some pretty unfavorable odds. What a comeback.
8. Luke Richardson earned his first win as head coach of the Blackhawks. A fitting victory, given the penalty kill came up large. As a former defenseman who played 1,486 NHL games, you know he likes that.
9. The Sharks honored Doug Wilson in a pregame ceremony, which included a banner unveiling at SAP Center that detailed his contributions to the franchise as a player and executive. It was fitting that the Sharks did it with the Blackhawks in town. Both teams wore No. 24 jerseys during warmups. Wilson took a medical leave of absence last November and eventually stepped down as Sharks GM in April. Wishing him well.
10. The Rockford IceHogs kicked off their AHL season on Saturday afternoon. They fell behind 3-0 going into the third period and rallied to win 5-4 in overtime against Manitoba. David Gust (one goal, two assists), Luke Philp (two goals, one assist) and Lukas Reichel (one goal, two assists) each had three points, and Brett Seney scored the winner. A solid start to the season.
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