NEWSLETTER
After the morning skate on Thursday, Derek King said that the losing streak was starting to wear on the guys in the locker room. “They know it, they feel it, they’re not happy about it,” King said. “Trust me; there’s some miserable guys in there.”
Despite the narrative being the need to get amped up and play a full 6o minutes of hockey for weeks now, the Blackhawks haven’t been able to do it. Tonight, the Blackhawks looked like a team that was indeed sick and tired of the losing streak that they’ve been riding for 21 days. Derek King reunited the Alex DeBrincat-Dylan Strome-Patrick Kane line tonight. It paid off early with the trio executing a three-on-one rush to perfection on the second shift of the game, with Patrick Kane beating Sharks’ netminder James Reimer just 1:18 into the game.
Patrick Kane scores the opening goal a minute after Pat Foley steps back into the broadcast booth. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/rV3KZ8nm81
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 15, 2022
Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome logged assists on the goal, and the 12-17-88 line was back in business after a two-game absence. So were the Blackhawks. They parlayed the hot start into their best performance in three weeks.
Taylor Raddysh and Calvin de Haan both recorded tip-in goals in the second period, one on a Seth Jones set-up for Raddysh in front of the net and the latter off of a Patrick Kane shot from the circle late in the middle frame to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead heading into the dressing room.
This third-period goal might have been the best one the Blackhawks have scored all season. The passing was perfection, and the execution was equally as pristine. As Pat Foley said on the NBC Sports Chicago broadcast, “Oh, my, the Harlem Globetrotters just showed up!”
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1514799279818244097?s=20&t=Zq9BkcWjpU3dqAIMkx3-ig
As strong as the top line was in their reunion, the second line was no slouch. Taylor Raddysh had a goal, and Philipp Kurashev just missed a goal on a couple of occasions as his offensive game has continued to look better and better every game since his promotion to a top-six role.
Almost fittingly, the Blackhawks needed the shootout in this one, with Alex DeBrincat’s eventual winner coming in the third round of a scoreless shootout to give Pat Foley one more signature call before he hung his headset up. The Blackhawks made it interesting tonight, but they found a way to get a victory. Seth Jones joked after the game about the Blackhawks making nothing easy:
“It’s nice to get back in the win column… We did some good things tonight, but we always find a way to make it interesting, right?”
Pat Foley was honored as the first star of the game after the shootout victory as he got one final salute from the fans and players in a thrilling and fitting end to one of the most legendary careers in hockey history.
After a shootout victory for the Blackhawks Pat Foley is named the first star of the game, his final game. What a finish at the United Center tonight. #Blackhawks #FoleysFarewell pic.twitter.com/BsgcVa2Qol
— Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers) April 15, 2022
You can find the complete box score here!
