NEWSLETTER
You know what the Blackhawks really needed? Another injury. So when they had to make an unscheduled goaltender change in the middle of the second period while clinging to a 1-0 lead and the momentum pretty clearly wearing the wrong jersey, the scramble drill was back in effect. This team continues to have guys in and out of the lineup because of physical issues. The tough part was Petr Mrazek was playing a phenomenal game when he had to leave. But wow what a third period!
Star 1: Taylor Raddysh
Raddysh deposited a loose puck into the net for his 18th of the season 53 seconds after the Bruins took a 3-2 lead. After the following faceoff he absolutely hammered Brad Marchand into the boards, leaving him in a pile; Marchand didn’t get up very quickly and went off. He scored his 19th of the season late in the third period to give the Hawks a little insurance. He scored his third of the night and 20th of the season into the empty net with 44.8 seconds left in regulation and there was laundry on the sheet. Raddysh had a GREAT night. Love to see it (especially when I wrote about how valuable he’s been just this morning!).
Star 2: Boris Katchouk
How about Katchouk giving the Blackhawks three points tonight? He only had 8 points in his previous 63 games with the Blackhawks since he was acquired last year. Katchouk had the assists on goals from Raddysh and Anderson and then scored the go-ahead goal with authority in the third period.
Star 3: Joey Anderson
The second period had that look/feel of the wheels starting to fall off against a far superior team. Petr Mrazek left the game because of an apparent injury, a shot got past Alex Stalock through a couple bodies and it really had a “Boston’s about to run away” vibe. Anderson scored 94 seconds after Boston’s goal off a nice pass from Boris Katchouk to settle things back down. Anderson added the assist on Katchouk’s go-ahead goal. I’ve said it before: I really like Anderson’s game. If he’ll commit to going to the blue paint — where he scored the goal — he’ll have a nice role here.
Takeaways
- Over the past few years (decade?) one of the brutal things we’ve seen about a thousand times has been the Blackhawks giving up goals quickly after scoring. Anderson scored 64 seconds after the Bruins tied the game at one, and Raddysh scored 53 seconds after the Bruins took a 3-2 lead in the third period.
- There were 22 faceoffs in the first period. Twenty-two! (The Blackhawks won 10 of the 12.) And the Bruins went the final 14:57 without a shot on net.
- There were 21 faceoffs in the second period. Forty-three in 40 minutes! (The Blackhawks won 20 of the 43.) Boston out-shot the Blackhawks 16-10 in the second period.
- Mrazek was having himself a solid night — a fantastic second period — but had to leave the game 8:48 into the middle stanza. He made a save that knocked his mask off a few moments before coming out (he left practice early on Monday after taking a shot to the neck/collarbone area). He also appeared to stay down after his final save and send Buddy Robinson to the bench to communicate something to the coaches before coming out of the game.
- Finally, if you’re really interested in how the bottom of the barrel looks right now…
