It appeared as though the Blackhawks were on their way to a second-straight game where they played a nearly perfect style of winning hockey, and had received the kind of goaltending performances from Marc-André Fleury that we had all signed up for when Chicago acquired him this summer. Then they played the third period and everything changed.
After getting out-shot 20-5 in the third period, and a pair of Jeff Carter goals, a 2-0 Blackhawks lead was wiped away by a Penguins blitz in the final 20 minutes of action. Jujhar Khaira and Seth Jones both scored their first goals of their Blackhawks careers to give Chicago their 2-0 lead after two periods of play and it looked as if the Derek King era of Blackhawks hockey was going to continue to amaze us all with the turnaround the team had shown through five periods. Luckily for the Blackhawks, they were able to hold-off the on-slaught and force overtime for the second-straight game.
Tied 2-2 in the overtime period, anything that could have happened, did. Marc-André Fleury was called upon to make a handful of crucial saves and started a scrum in his own net. Kasperi Kapanen broke his skate, which led to a two-on-none breakaway for Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, who DID NOT score on the chance, and everything in-between. Five minutes of chaos and we would have to go to the shootout. It was there where Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat were able to score and Fleury shut the door on his former squad to give Chicago the 3-2 shootout winner.
Here’s a wild stat to end the night:
Mind-boggling stat: Penguins haven't held a lead in Chicago since Feb. 27, 2009. That's 495 minutes and counting. #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 10, 2021
Since firing Jeremy Colliton, Chicago is 2-0-0 and now 3-9-2 on the season. Derek King’s first objective as coach of the Blackhawks was to get the team to play more relaxed, more loose. It has translated so far. The Blackhawks that we have seen over the last six periods of regulation hockey and two overtime periods have looked like a completely different squad than the ones who played the first twelve games of the year. Every bit of progress so far since the change needs to continue in baby-step form, but so far, so good on the turnaround in Chicago.
Find the full box score here.