NEWSLETTER
One of the youngest, fastest, high-scoring teams in the league came into the United Center on a Saturday night for an ESPN broadcast against a Blackhawks team welcoming Jonathan Toews back after two months off the ice. Welcome to another edition of the Blackhawks’ bend-don’t-break game! Chicago put a whole four shots on net in the first period but remained tied at zero.
Star 1: Jonathan Toews
Let’s be real for a moment: the attention of every person in the United Center — even the surprisingly big number of Devils fans (or at least jerseys in the concourse) — was on 19 in red. One of the most respected players of his generation and one of the most beloved Blackhawks ever. How would he look? For some, just seeing him back on the ice at least one more time was all we needed. But his pass to Andreas Athanasiou for Chicago’s third goal was *chef’s kiss* and the ovation for his assist was loud and on point by the crowd at the UC.
Star 2: Tyler Johnson
How about goals in three straight games down the stretch for Tyler after a long, hard run of games in which he couldn’t buy one? He fought it for a long time so seeing him get on a heater late in the season is nice. When he’s been healthy, Tyler’s been a consistent player for the Blackhawks and has provided a lot of leadership during a turbulent season.
Star 3: The Raddysh Family
Taylor Raddysh picked up his 16th assist of the season on Tyler’s goal, setting a new career high. What makes that pretty cool is his older brother, Darren, was credited with his first career NHL point with an assist for Tampa earlier in the evening. Taylor picked up another assist on the Blackhawks’ second goal, extending his career-best mark to 17.
Takeaways
- Lukas Reichel‘s sixth goal of the season gives him 11 points in 20 games, which is roughly a 45-point pace over a full, 82-game NHL season. The top three rookie point producers in the NHL this season are Seattle’s Matty Beniers (52 points in 72 games entering Saturday), Arizona’s Matias Maccelli (43 points in 58 games) and Anaheim’s Mason McTavish (42 points in 74 games).
- Toews in the first period: six shifts, won 3 of 5 faceoffs, one shot on net, 4:34 time on ice (54 seconds on power play). He did have one great opportunity to shoot on the power play and deferred to a pass attempt.
- Toews through two periods: six shifts, 5 of 8 at the dot (2 of 3 in the period), 9:21 total time on ice (now including 18 seconds short-handed), still just the one shot on net.
- Toews’ final numbers for the night: one assist, 13:22 time on ice, won 8 of 12 faceoffs. He competed. He was on the ice. And he hopefully felt the love from the fans.
