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Standing Watch

January 22, 2022, 1:11 AM ET [153 Comments]
Theo Fox
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The name of the game last night for the Blackhawks was puck watching and it sure was frustrating to view on what seemed like an endless loop as the Wild ran away with a decisive victory. On all 5 goals allowed, the Chicago defense was mesmerized by the puck ignoring the players in the opposite jerseys.

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Blackhawks Game Summary

Starting Lineup

Hagel - Strome - Kane
DeBrincat - Toews - Kubalik
Kurashev - Dach - Entwistle
Hardman - Lafferty - Carpenter

McCabe - S Jones
de Haan - Murphy
Stillman - Gustafsson

Fleury
Lankinen

Scratches:
Borgstrom, Khaira, C Jones

Abridged Boxscore

1st Goal (0-1): Foligno (Addison)
2nd Goal (0-2): Hartman (Kaprizov, Zuccarello)
3rd Goal (0-3): Hartman (Zuccarello, Kaprizov)
4th Goal (0-4): Addison (Foligno, Merrill)
5th Goal (0-5): Duhaime (Fiala, Kulikov)
6th Goal (1-5): Strome (Kane, Hagel)

SOG For/Against: 36/30
PP: 0-for-3
PK: 2-for-2
Faceoffs Won: 48%


Scoring Recap

* On the 1st goal scored, Brandon Hagel slid a backhand feed to spring Patrick Kane who employed his world-class eye-hand coordination to kick the puck to his stick before connecting with Dylan Strome who ripped a wrister from between the circles.

* On the 1st goal allowed, Marcus Foligno went untouched while being surrounded by 4 defenders with Calvin de Haan getting literally twisted in his coverage as his teammates watched the puck.

* On the 2nd goal allowed, the Chicago defense was again paying attention to the puck which left Ryan Hartman wide open to wire a shot off of the crossbar then bounced off of Marc-Andre Fleury's back and into the net.

* On the 3rd goal allowed, Hartman racked up another marker with a slapshot from the right circle that slithered under Fleury's right arm and into the twine.

* On the 4th goal allowed, rookie defender Calen Addison scored on a slapper from the point as Joel Eriksson Ek was allowed to go unscathed in the slot and take away Fleury's eyes.

* On the 5th goal allowed, Brandon Duhaime had nobody around him and a wide open net as the entire Chicago defense -- surprise, surprise -- got caught puck watching on the overloaded right side.

Game Notes

* Kevin Lankinen came in relief for Fleury after the Wild went up 4-0; Lankinen made 16 saves on 17 shots while Fleury made 9 in 13.

* On the positive side of what was a pitiful defensive effort, Connor Murphy, Jake McCabe, and de Haan combined for a total of 13 hits, 11 shot blocks, and 8 shots on goal.

* Kane extended his point streak to 9 games.

* The Hawks and Wild travel to Minnesota and go back at it tonight in St. Paul.

Highlights

Goal by Dylan Strome

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IceHogs Game Summary

Starting Lineup

Altybarmakian - Reichel - Teply
Yetman - McLaughlin - Busdeker
Howarth - Slavin - Gicewicz
Pour - G Mitchell - Osipov

Phillips - I Mitchell
Kalynuk - Regula
Beaudin - Galvas

Delia
Soderblom

Abridged Boxscore

1st Goal (0-1): Gardner (McKenzie, Cecconi)
2nd Goal (1-1): Teply (Reichel, Kalynuk) PP
3rd Goal (1-2): Tufte (L'Esperance)
4th Goal (1-3): Gardner (Cecconi, Melnick)
5th Goal (2-3): Howarth (Slavin)
6th Goal (2-4): Karlstrom (Tufte, Melnick) PP
7th Goal (2-5): Tufte (Rosburg) EN

SOG For/Against: 34/25
PP: 1-for-6
PK: 3-for-4

Game Notes

* Ian Mitchell and Jakub Galvas further cement themselves as Rockford's top defenders as they demonstrated solid gap control, positioning in all areas of the ice, and capacity to neutralize plays.

* Lukas Reichel stretched his point streak to 4 games and has 5 goals and 6 assists over his last 6 games.

* Michal Teply manufactured a nice power move on the PP to take the puck from behind the net and wrap it around for a stuff shot; he has 3 goals and 3 assists in his last 6 games.

* Dylan McLaughlin hammered 8 shots on goal but couldn't solve Texas goalie Matt Jurusik.

* The Hogs can avenge their loss with a rematch against the Stars at home again in Rockford.

Highlights

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Roster Updates

Kirby Dach and Brett Connolly were cleared to leave COVID protocol leaving that sector of sick bay empty for the first time in weeks. Even though Connolly didn't suit up for the game, Dach did and was largely inconsequential as he lined up as the 3rd line center.

Interim head coach Derek King shared that Riley Stillman has a left shoulder injury and will not travel with the team to the Twin Cities for the back end of the home-and-home series versus the Wild. Also, Jujhar Khaira was scratched for last night's game due to back spasms.

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IceHogs Updates

The IceHogs got a pair of players back as Cale Morris came down from the Blackhawks and Chad Yetman came up from the Fuel. Also, Kurtis Gabriel exited COVID protocol while Evan Barratt took his place. Fortunately, the COVID count for the Hogs is only one player and no coaches.

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See you on the boards!

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