The season is off to a hot start with the Hawks picking up the victory in game one, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-2. This was a game that I had zero expectation going into. I just wanted to see how this team was going to gel together, get our first good look at Bedard in playing against legit NHL competition, and how the three young defensemen were going to play getting significant ice time. Game one was a success beyond the fact that they picked up the victory. The systems and culture that Coach Richardson brought into this organization last season seem to be carrying over well into this season. Last year, with a team that was just thrown together to have a team bought in, it worked well. Now that we have a team that is built with a little bit more purpose, it seems as though they are buying in as well. This team played hard, making the Penguins earn every opportunity they got, and they didn’t back down from the aggressive play. I know it's only one game and it’s a long season, but I am really happy with what we saw last night, and I hope that it will carry over to tonight’s game and throughout the season.
Three Takeaways Petr Mrazek Mrazek played fantastic in this one, making so many big saves and keeping the game close after the Hawks went down 2-0. The first goal was an absolutely beautiful tip that you cannot fault him on, and the second goal was some good puck movement in tight and just could get over in time. After last season and the number of games he kept the Hawks in and just never seemed to get the win, it was nice to see him pick up the victory in game one. He finished this one with 38 saves and a 950% save percentage.
Young Defenseman Impress When you are playing with a prospect who is so highly talked about, like Connor Bedard, it is going to be very easy to fly under the radar. Korchinski, Kaiser, and Vlasic were given a huge opportunity to show that they are ready to be NHL players, and while there are going to be a lot of ups and downs in their young careers, I think you can say they passed their first test. Korchinski looks fantastic out there, making some very good stops on his own end and playing smart hockey, knowing when to jump into the play and working hard to get back. He was given the job as the point man on the second powerplay unit and even though they didn’t get much time it was great to see the trust he already has from the coaches to play that role. Vlasic looks like he is going to be a very good choice as the defensive defenseman. With his size, he was really containing the play on his end and was not making it easy for the Pens to get to the net. Also, what a beautiful play to get the puck on net, and what an underrated move—a nice pad pass right to Donato to get the Hawks on the board. Then you have Kaiser, who is a bit of a wildcard; he looked good in the few games he played last year, but coming into camp, we weren’t sure what we were going to get out of him. He really plays that two-way defenseman role well. I felt every time he was out there, he was in on the action but never seemed to be out of position. He did get less ice time than the other two guys (15:06), but he was very noticeable out there and finished the game with a +1 rating.
Connor Bedard will be a problem. The long wait to see Bedard out on the ice as a Blackhawk in a regular-season game finally came, and one thing is for sure: this kid is good. He had a little bit of a shakey first period, almost trying to do too much out there, but he finished the period with 7 shot attempts and 3 shots on goal. He seemed to calm down a bit and find his groove in the last 40 minutes of the game. A few things were pretty obvious to me in this one: he is going to need to use his speed to his advantage because his sexy dangles that he pulled off in juniors aren’t going to be automatic. He tried a handful of times on Letang, and he was shot down instantly. His size is going to be his disadvantage until he completely adjusts to the NHL game, so he is going to need to just blow past defenders in the meantime. Faceoffs are going to be a struggle for a bit. To be fair, he was going against one of the all-time greatest centers, but finishing the game with a 15.38 win percentage isn’t going to cut it. Hopefully he will pick up the best ways to cheat a bit on the draw, but let's hope he doesn’t get too frustrated early on. Overall, I liked what I saw from him in his first game. I love how he isn’t afraid to put the puck on the net, something rookies seem to struggle with when they make the jump, but again, he's not a normal rookie. I can't wait to see how he follows up on last night's game and what adjustments he makes going forward.
Three Stars 1st Star: Petr Mrazek: 38 saves and.950 SV% 2nd Star: The Forth Line combined 2 goals and 4 assists. 3rd Star: Cole Guttman Game-Tying Goal
Up Next: Boston Bruins The Hawks will be back at it tonight against the Boston Bruins for an original six-man matchup. It will be interesting to see how this Bruins team is going to do after their record-setting season last year and losing a major piece in Patrice Bergeron. It was going to be very unlikely that this team was going to match last season's regular season success as is, but losing their center depth is going to hurt big time. Is this going to be the year the Bruins finally fall off, or will they continue to find a way to stay relevant out there? Projected Line Up As of writing time (9 a.m. central), there haven’t been any updates on any potential line-up changes. The only change we know for sure is that Arvid Soderblom will get his first start of the season.
Puck Drop is at 6:30 p.m. central time, with coverage over on TNT and Max (formerly HBO Max)
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