10 observations: Pens beat Hawks in Chicago for first time since 2009 originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Blackhawks fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 at the United Center on Sunday.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. This night was all about Marian Hossa, who officially had his No. 81 retired by the Blackhawks. Eddie Olczyk emceed. Former teammates Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp were in attendance. The Stanley Cup made a surprise appearance. It was a memorable night.
2. The Penguins opened the scoring 64 seconds into the game thanks to Brock McGinn. I know this is hard to believe, but it was the first time the Penguins held a lead — and won — in Chicago since Feb. 27, 2009, a span of 496:04 minutes. The Penguins were 0-5-3 in their previous eight games at the United Center.
3. This was the first time Sidney Crosby scored a goal and beat the Blackhawks at the United Center, which is crazy to think about. He had a four-point night and scored the game-winner with 3:14 left in regulation. A fitting night to do it, with his former linemate Hossa honored.
4. I thought the Blackhawks were the better team in the first period. They recorded a season-high 16 shots on goal in the opening frame, 24 hours after recording only 18 shots total against Boston. But the Blackhawks fell into a hole again by giving up the first goal for the fifth straight game and 14th time in 18 games this season. Their struggles in that department continue.
5. The Penguins scored two goals in a span of 1:40 in the second period to pull away 3-0. I thought the game was over at that point, but the Blackhawks scored twice later in the frame to make it interesting and tied it up at 3-3 late in the third period. Give them credit for clawing back. It would’ve been easy to be deflated.
6. I don’t want to say Patrick Kane has been in an offensive funk lately because I still think he’s creating chances, but it hasn’t been translating on the scoresheet. He ended a 10-game goal drought by scoring Chicago’s first goal of the game, and you could see the relief in his yell during his celebration.
7. The Blackhawks went back to five forwards on the power play and it almost ended badly on several occasions. The Penguins had two shorthanded breakaways, one by Teddy Blueger from the blue line on the first one in the opening frame and another in the third period by Ryan Poehling. Arvid Soderblom stopped both of them, and they both came at key moments in the contest.
8. This game didn’t have much flow to it. There were a ton of whistles, 52 stoppages to be exact. Almost a whistle per minute. Yuck.
9. Jujhar Khaira skated in his 300th career NHL goal, and he celebrated by scoring his second goal of the season. Incredible pass by Jason Dickinson, too.
10. Evgeni Malkin also had a milestone night after skating in his 1,000th career NHL game, and the Penguins honored him by imitating his pregame routine during warmups. Just hilarious. Of course, Malkin went on to score a goal.
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