If you were sleeping or maybe watching the Bulls’ thrilling comeback victory over the Celtics last night, I wouldn’t blame you, but the Chicago Blackhawks won a hockey game last night. The 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators last night was the first of the season for the Blackhawks, who are now 1-7-2 on the season.
• Patrick Kane stole the show on Monday night, playing in his first game since hitting the COVID-19 protocols last weekend; Kane recorded his seventh career hat trick and added an assist for good measure in a four-point performance that helped propel the Blackhawks to a victory. Let’s look at all three of his goals from last night and discuss some other significances that they carried.
• Goal No. 1: Patrick Kane ties Steve Larmer for third on the Chicago Blackhawks’ all-time goals leaderboard, making it 2-0 Blackhawks early in period two.
Patrick Kane scores his 406th career goal pic.twitter.com/UswdBTxmVI
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 2, 2021
• Goal No. 2: Kane makes it 4-1 Blackhawks early in period three and passes Steve Larmer for sole possession of third place on the all-time goals leaderboard with career Goal No. 407.
Kane passes Steve Larmer with 407 career goals! pic.twitter.com/C5D6TgIThF
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 2, 2021
• Goal No. 3: Kane passes Dennis Savard, moves into third all-time in points in Chicago Blackhawks history, and makes it 5-1 Blackhawks.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1455356290868387845?s=20
• Brandon Hagel scored a pair of goals in the victory and now has three goals in his last three games. Jonathan Toews logged three assists on the night, and Marc-André Fleury stopped 29 of 30 Ottawa shots on goal and now has 68 saves in the last two games compared to just two goals allowed against St. Louis and Ottawa. Fleury said after the game that the monkey on the back of the Blackhawks was “more like a gorilla.”
https://twitter.com/CRoumeliotis/status/1455367783756222464?s=20
• Patrick Kane spoke after the victory and said he felt bad about the last time he spoke, referring to his comments on the Kyle Beach scandal last Wednesday night after a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kane said that he felt bad that he put his personal experience with management ahead of how the organization treated Kyle Beach.
Patrick Kane: "I feel bad about the last time I talked. I put my personal experience with management ahead of the way Kyle [Beach] was treated by them… It takes incredible courage and pride for him to come forward. We're all thinking about him."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 2, 2021
• Speaking of Kyle Beach, NHLPA director Donald Fehr requested that an independent investigation by outside legal counsel be conducted into handling the Kyle Beach sexual assault allegations and how Fehr and the NHLPA handled the matter. Fehr has been under fire since Kyle Beach spoke about the incident and its mishandling by both the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHLPA, and in particular, the negligence by Donald Fehr himself.
NHLPA director Donald Fehr has requested that an "independent investigation be commenced by outside legal counsel in order to review the NHLPA’s response to the Kyle Beach matter."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 1, 2021
• The Blackhawks might have notched their first victory on Monday night, but there were plenty of available seats in the building. The announced attendance ended up being 15,946, the smallest crowd at the United Center for a Blackhawks game since just 14,799 fans attended a matchup between the Blackhawks and the Coyotes on February 27, 2008.
Today’s Blackhawks crowd is shockingly sparse: pic.twitter.com/XtB0oXlwx7
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 2, 2021
• Gary Bettman did his best to make the NHL look even worse than the Blackhawks did last week during a disastrous media availability conducted via conference call on Monday afternoon. Bettman stumbled and bumbled over his own words as he tried his best to justify the NHL’s negligence in the Kyle Beach situation, but all he did was make himself and the NHL look bad.
For @SInow/@TheHockeyNews:
Gary Bettman just led one of the most embarrassing moments in NHL history. https://t.co/nVgfasKlJP
— Mike Stephens (@mikeystephens81) November 1, 2021
• The Blackhawks also postponed the Marian Hossa celebration that was set to take place on November 9 before their game with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Instead, the ceremony commemorating Hossa’s Hall of Fame career and his time with the Blackhawks will take place on a future date.
Blackhawks Postpone Marian Hossa Legacy Nighthttps://t.co/lIo5qEUBtl
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 1, 2021
• How about them, Bulls!?
New Bulls doing new things. https://t.co/dcCIVYlRxY
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) November 2, 2021
• Here’s the full highlights:
Chicago Bulls Full Game Highlights: Huge Comeback Win Over Boston Celtics, 128-114 https://t.co/ATN7FwQnzB pic.twitter.com/Dvtt6YOY2Q
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) November 2, 2021
That’s it for today!