NEWSLETTER
For the second time in as many games, the Blackhawks were facing an opponent who was playing their second game of a back-to-back stretch. On Thursday, the Blackhawks needed overtime, but got the win over the Montreal Canadiens. Tonight was a much different night, even though the goal output for the Blackhawks was the same. In shutout fashion, the Blackhawks topped the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 behind goals from Brandon Hagel, Patrick Kane, and Dominik Kubalík, as well as a perfect performance from Marc-André Fleury in net.
Fleury made his sixth-straight start for Chicago and made all 37 saves he needed to. Chicago, with the win, moves their record to 15-18-5, 14-9-3 since Derek King took over as interim head coach.
After a spirited but scoreless first period, which saw a combined 26 shots on goal and 13 high-danger scoring chances, the second period provided some high-intensity moments that ended with the Blackhawks getting on the board first.
INSANE sequence of events leads to the #Blackhawks getting on the board first tonight thanks to Brandon Hagel!#CHIvsANA pic.twitter.com/RzlB928rhN
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 16, 2022
Jakub Galvas and Riley Stillman are both owed a steak dinner from Marc-André Fleury for their efforts on the sequence. Both of them saving likely goals against, and on the other end, as the penalty against Erik Gustafsson expired, Hagel scores his ninth goal of the season to give the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead.
THIS CLOSE pic.twitter.com/5tunTHQSzZ
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 16, 2022
Can’t get much closer than that.
Speaking of being so close, rookie Lukas Reichel was playing in his second NHL game ever and nearly got his first NHL goal. Unfortunately another Lukas, Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal, had other ideas.
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1482547390020268032?s=20
Chicago was that close to having a cushy two-goal lead heading into the third period, but it would stay a 1-0 game after forty-minutes of action. This was the sixth-straight game the Blackhawks had entered the third period involved in a one-goal game. They are now 4-1-1 in that stretch with tonight’s win.
Helping Chicago’s case in the third period was the dynamic duo of Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane as they connected on a powerplay rush chance to give the Blackhawks the 2-0 lead on Kane’s ninth goal of the season.
Apparently the #Blackhawks can only score after chaotic sequences of play…
Oh well, 2-0 Chicago as Patrick Kane extends his point-streak to 7 games! #CHIvsANA pic.twitter.com/jIqdEPSSZj— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 16, 2022
With the goal, Kane extended his current point-streak to seven games and he has 16 points in his last 17 games. With the assist on the Kane goal and the eventual empty-netter from Kubalík, DeBrincat has a three-game point-streak of his own and 17 points over his last 17 games. Adding a secondary assist on the 2-0 goal was Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews, who now has five points over his last six games. All good things from the big guns on the Blackhawks.
Marc-André Fleury records his third shutout of the season, 70th of his career, while playing in his sixth-straight game. He has a 4-1-1 record over those six games and a .922 save-percentage in those six games. He is now 13-11-2 on the season.
Chicago is back in action on Monday afternoon as they travel to Seattle to face the Kraken at 4:00 p.m. CT. The Blackhawks will be putting their now four-game winning streak on the line against a Kraken team that has lost their last eight games in-a-row (0-7-1) heading into tonight.
Find the full box score here.
