Category Archives: Game recap

Hawks earn extra point in the shootout at Columbus

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks took two more hard fought points from the Blues Jackets at Nationwide Arena in a 2-1 shootout victory. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each scored in the shootout while Corey Crawford stopped two of the three Columbus shooters to seal the victory.

The Blue Jackets extended their point streak to 10 games but the club took only their second point from Chicago on the season. The Blackhawks won all four meetings between the two teams in what has turned out to be the final season that the two teams can be considered division rivals. It was far from an easy season sweep for the ‘Hawks, however, as each of those four victories were by one goal.

The fourth and final meeting of the season between the two teams was the longest yet, but despite a superb 39-save effort from Sergei Bobrovsky, the Blackhawks were able to beat the Jackets goaltender with each of their first two shootout attempts. Read more »

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Four-Goal First Dooms Blackhawks-Fall to Oilers 6-5

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Jon Fromi| Leave a comment

By Jon Fromi

The Chicago Blackhawks spotted their opponents from Edmonton a four-goal lead in the first period before coming out to make a game of it. Unfortunately, the ‘Hawks could not overcome a pathetic start and lost their second game in a row 6-5 to the Oilers.

The game was dominated by Edmonton throughout the opening period. Niklas Hjalmarsson committed an early turnover in his zone that was gathered in by Ales Hemsky, but Hjalmarsson recovered nicely to prevent any damage. Damage was coming, however, as the Oilers scored twice in the third minute.

The first goal came when Mike Brown received a puck that was held in the Chicago zone and flung it from a few feet inside the blue line. The shot snaked past Ray Emery’s left pad and in at the 2:24 mark. A few seconds later, Sam Gagner completed a play that saw Nail Yakupov thread a pass to Magnus Paajarvi, who directed the puck to the doorstep. Gagner knocked in the pass to give his team a two-goal advantage. Read more »

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The Streak Is Over, Avs dominate Hawks 6-2

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Brad Vandenberk| Leave a comment

By Brad Vandenberk

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached the halfway point of the shortened NHL season and your Chicago Blackhawks have yet to lose a game in regulation.  Let’s see a show of hands of how many people thought this would happen.

At this stage let’s take a minute to review the season preview that was posted back in January.  There were a few statements that I made in believing what would make this Hawks team successful.

We will start from the goalies and make our way up to the forwards.  Corey Crawford and Ray Emery were viewed as being the “unknown” factors.  Read more »

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Hawks need 3rd period comeback to beat Avs, 3-2; Shaw, Sharp leave game with injuries

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Brad Gardner| 2 Comments

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks escaped with 3-2 regulation victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night at the United Center. Despite entering the third period down by a goal, the home team had the legs at the end to extend their streak to 24 games to start the season without a regulation loss.

Jonathan Toews scored a shorthanded goal early in the third period to tie the game, exploiting forward Ryan O’Reilly in the defensive zone for a highlight reel goal against Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

The score remained knotted for almost 17 minutes, but inside the final minute of regulation, Daniel Carcillo banged home a rebound to put the Blackhawks ahead. Marcus Kruger and Viktor Stalberg chipped in on the forecheck and the scramble in front of the net, but it was Carcillo’s whack that put the puck between Varlamov’s legs to seal the win. Read more »

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Streak 23-Blackhawks win 10th straight, top Wild 5-3

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Jon Fromi| Leave a comment

By Jon Fromi

The Chicago Blackhawks got a pair of goals from Bryan Bickell and a three-point night from Brandon Saad as the home team won a franchise-record tenth straight contest Tuesday night, a 5-3 decision over the Minnesota Wild.

On a night honoring Marian Hossa, the ‘Hawks used four unanswered goals in a six-minute span in the first period to avenge one of their three losses on the 2013 season. Chicago wins their 20th game and have now earned 43 of a possible 46 points.

In his first shift back from an upper body injury, Dave Bolland earned a high sticking penalty when his blade caught Torrey Mitchell in the face. Jonathan Toews had a breakaway chance even after losing his stick. Thanks to some NASCAR-like efficiency from the bench, Toews took a pass from Hossa but was turned away by Backstrom. The ‘Hawks did kill the penalty, however. Read more »

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Kane saves ‘Hawks point streak, then takes the second point from Detroit in the shootout

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Brad Vandenberk| 2 Comments

By Brad Vandenberk

On a cold afternoon in Detroit, the Blackhawks invaded Joe Louis Arena for a 12:30 ET start.  This lone NHL afternoon match was viewed nationally and did not disappoint.

The Hawks came in riding their 21 game point streak and the Red Wings were looking to play spoiler and break that streak.

With the talk of re-alignment throughout the NHL, the Red Wings will move over to the Eastern Conference and only see the Hawks 2 times a year versus the regular 6 times.  This could be a big blow to the already great rivalry between these 2 clubs.

Marian Hossa played in his 1000th game, etching his name among the elite in the NHL.  Dave Bolland missed his 5th consecutive game with an upper body injury.  Read more »

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Point streak now 21; Hawks top Columbus in OT

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Brad Gardner| 3 Comments

By Brad Gardner

The Chicago Blackhawks took the ice against the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second time this week on Friday night. A back-and-forth affair eventually swung in favor of the home team, with Brent Seabrook scoring the game winning goal in a 4-3 overtime victory.

Ray Emery got the nod in net for the Blackhawks after posting two thirds of the team’s shutout the previous night in St. Louis. Corey Crawford, who left that game against the Blues after the first period due to injury, dressed as Emery’s back-up.

The Hawks squeezed past the Jackets, the NHL’s lowest ranked team in the standings, in a 1-0 regulation win on Sunday and Todd Richards’ club again proved to be all the Hawks could handle on Friday. The Jackets pushed out to a pair of one-goal leads during the first 40 minutes and were still able to put together a good effort in the third period to tie it up and force overtime. Read more »

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Streak hits 20; Blackhawks blank Blues in St. Louis

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Jon Fromi| 4 Comments

By Jon Fromi

The Chicago Blackhawks got to work early in St. Louis Thursday night, parlaying a quick goal into an impressive 3-0 win over the Blues. The continuation of Chicago’s NHL record point streak to start a season was tempered by the departure of starting goalkeeper Corey Crawford after the first intermission.

The ‘Hawks wasted little time getting on the board following the opening faceoff. Jonathan Toews won the draw, starting a sequence that saw all five Chicago skaters handle the puck. Brent Seabrook gained control of the puck and sent it across the ice to Duncan Keith. Keith quickly found Marian Hossa entering the St. Louis zone.

Hossa found Brandon Saad. Saad returned the puck to the doorstep, where his captain scored on what was officially labeled a backhand. The puck looked like it came off of Tazer’s skate, but it wasn’t a kicking motion by any means. The puck slid into the vacated net for a 1-0 lead twelve seconds into the contest. Read more »

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Hawks soar on, beating the Oilers 3-2 in Overtime

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Brad Vandenberk| Leave a comment

By Brad Vandenberk

Now that the dust has settled after a weekend of NHL record setting, it was time for the Blackhawks to shift the focus toward the young guns from Edmonton.  This was the first meeting between these two teams this season.

If we take a second to remember last season, the Oilers dominated the Hawks with Sam Ganger recording an 8 point night during one of the contests in northern Alberta.  So, it would be sort of fitting if the Hawks were to have their record streak broken by the hands of these Oilers.   However, the Oilers were missing one of their top forwards in Taylor Hall.  He was serving his second game of a 2 game suspension for a vicious open ice hit on Wild’s forward Cal Clutterbuck.  This would slightly deplete an already star-studded Oilers’ line up.

On the other hand, the Hawks were missing second line center, Dave Bolland, who suffered an upper body injury during the Sharks game on Friday and missed Sunday night’s game against Columbus.  Read more »

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Shaw, returning Crawford, lift Hawks over Columbus

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks squeaked out win number 15 on the season with a 1-0 victory at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

One night after losing a 2-1 decision in St. Louis, the Jackets brought their physical, grinding game into the Madhouse on Madison intent on being the first team to knock the Hawks out in regulation time this season.

Corey Crawford, returning after missing four games due to injury and suiting up for one game as a back-up, matched up against Steve Mason in net. Both goalies played strong in what turned out to a tight-checking affair for the most part.

Although each team had their share of power play opportunities, they ended up a combined 0-for-8 on the man advantage. Crawford, for his part, made 10 saves against the Columbus power play on five opportunities. Read more »

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