NEWSLETTER
Thanks largely/mostly/exclusively to Petr Mrazek, the Blackhawks and Stars were tied at zero after 20 minutes. The Stars out-shot the Hawks 14-6 in the first period.
The Blackhawks got the game’s first power play early in the second period and Connor Bedard made it count with a nasty shot. Andreas Athanasiou then scored 65 seconds later — fhis first of the year — and the Blackhawks suddenly had a two-goal lead. And then, almost three minutes later, Seth Jones ripped home a shot from the goalie’s right and it was 3-0 in favor of the Blackhawks. Chicago had three goals on five shots in less than nine minutes of action. Absolutely love to see it.
Dallas was credited with 23 shots on goal — in the second period. 37 shots on Mrazek in 40 minutes to just 12 for Chicago. But the Blackhawks took a 3-1 lead to the third period. The Hawks weren’t credited with a shot on goal after Jones scored at 8:51 into the period.
Roughly nine minutes into the third period, it appeared Wyatt Kaiser plowed Mavrik Bourque (who was making his NHL debut) into Mrazek. The puck clearly crossed the line but was ruled no goal because of goaltender interference. Dallas challenged the play… during a TV timeout. When the official announced the ruling of the review, he pointed at the goal and said it was a good goal. And then the other official said apparently it was not a goal, and Dallas was assessed the penalty for losing their challenge. And the Blackhawks maintained their two-goal lead.
Star 1: Petr Mrazek
Frankly, I don’t care what happened in the third period. Mrazek was the only guy in the rink on either squad who showed out in the first period and he was absolutely stellar in the second. When your team is getting out-shot 37-11 after 40 minutes and has a lead? There’s one person to thank: the goaltender. And Mrazek was fabulous.
Star 2: Connor Bedard
The Blackhawks had 11 shots on goal after 40 minutes — three of them from Bedard. He was the only guy on the Blackhawks’ roster with more than one shot on net in the first two periods. And he scored the game’s first goal, which snapped a seven-game goal-less drought for him personally. He needed it and got it.
Star 3: Andreas Athanasiou
Less than two minutes after Bedard’s power play goal, Lukas Reichel and Athanasiou executed a really nice sequence and Double-A finally scored his first goal of the 2023-24 season.
Key Takeaways
xxx
