For the first time in a long time the Blackhawks and their fan base had something to be excited about this past Friday as they were able to snap a 5 game losing streak and for just the 2nd time in the last 15 games end the night in the win column. Being at the United Center myself, it was a very interesting, based on the atmosphere and how surprisingly filled the UC was; you wouldn’t have guessed this team was the worst in the league. As for the game itself. It wasn’t pretty, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as I was expecting with two of the worse teams in the league squaring off.
The Hawks absolutely dominated the play, as they out shot the Coyotes 12-5 in the first period. What is a bit misleading from that stat, however, is the Hawks never really challenge Connor Ingram that much. He was able to make a lot of glove saves with little to no effort or just soak up shots directly to the chest. There was one big opportunity for the Yotes in the first that had they been able to convert it would have been classic Hawks Hockey, dominate the play but still find yourself down.
The first goal of this game didn’t come until the midway mark of the second period when Jake McCabe was about to put away his 2nd goal of the season. He continues to have a very solid season for the Hawks and makes it a little bit more frustrating about the Seth Jones All Star pick. If the Hawks selection was to be a defenseman, why not pick the guy who has arguably, been the teams best defender this season? McCabe has definitely played his way into trade bait territory and with 2 years left at 4 million per, its not the worst contract out there for teams that need to tighten up their back end.
The Hawks were able to secure the win with the Tyler Johnson empty netter to make it 2-0, and with that gives goalie Alex Stalock his 10th career shutout. I have been on the Stalock bandwagon all year and while he’s not the long term answer in net, he has definitely made this tear down a bit more bearable. He has kept this team in more games than they deserve to be and he has been responsible for 5 of the teams 9 victories this season. He definitely earned this shutout and it was nice to see a high in a season filled with so many lows.
My last takeaway from Fridays game has to be the Lukas Reichel. It has been an interesting start to his career as many expected him to already be with the Hawks full time by now. However, the 20 year old has spent this season in Rockford where he has been playing great hockey and really gaining some confidence out there. This was extremely noticeable on Friday; it was absolutely a night and day difference from his first game this season. He was buzzing out there, putting himself in great scoring position, using his speed to get past defenders, and coming so close so many times to getting his first career NHL goal. While he was only credited with one shot on goal, he hit the post a few times, giving himself multiple high scoring opportunities. Good on Coach Richardson to see that he was feeling it and gave him plenty of ice time (15:05) and even some power play time (1:09). I am very much looking forward to seeing how he answers Fridays game tonight against a better team in the Flames and if he does well, could he make the case to finally stick around with the big club long term?
Next up, Calgary Flames
The Flames come into this one with a record of 19-14-7, good for 45 points and tied with the Oilers in the Wild Card spots. In their last 10 games they are playing some good hockey with a 6-3-1 record. This is the first of 3 meetings this season, with two of those coming in the month of January. The Flames have been an extremely interesting story going back to last season. They made an incredible run in the playoffs thanks to an amazing season from goalie Jason Markstrom, then the off season hits and it felt like they were about to go full on rebuild. Star Johnny Gaudreau left in free agency and then their other star Matthew Tkachuk informed management he had no intention of resigning with them next off season. They were able to flip him to Florida for Huberdeau and Weeger and then sign Kadri as a free agent. I can not remember the last time a team has gone from contender to rebuild back to contender all in one offseason. After a bit of a slow start they are finally putting things together and while they are not dominating in the same way as they were last season, they are still proving to be an extremely good hockey team.
Players to Watch Elias Lindholm 12 goals 23 assists 35 points Tyler Toffoli 15 goals 17 assists 32 points Name Kadri 15 goals 15 assists 30 points
Projected Starter Jacob Markstrom 13-10-4 2.72 GAA .897 SV%
The Hawks will look to build off their win and send out pretty much the same roster we saw Friday. During the morning skate Kane was skating with the team rotating in and out of the top line during rushes; however, it appears he will be sitting out this one as well. For me this is the smart play, with the next game not until Thursday you give 88 extra time to rest up and make sure he is 100% and not risk a more serious injury to that knee/leg. Keeping him out of the line up, you are also giving Reichel the chance to really prove himself out there and are able to give him top line minutes. Stalock has been confirmed to be the starter in tonights game as well and I think it would have been more of a shocker had he not gotten the call with his great play.
Morning Skate Lines
#Blackhawks lineup at morning skate:
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 8, 2023
Reichel-Domi-Kurashev
T. Johnson-Toews-Raddysh
Seney-Dickinson-Athanasiou
Blackwell-Lafferty-R. Johnson
McCabe-S. Jones
J. Johnson-Murphy
C. Jones-Mitchell
*Kane (lower body) rotating in/out on 1st line
*Katchouk and Phillips are extras
It will be interesting to see how this team comes out follwing the shutout win and while I don’t expect them to dominate the game like they did Friday, I do expect them to make this a tough game for the Flames. We are just a few hours away from finding out so until then Go Hawks!
Check out the latest episode of the WCBPodcast