Chicago Blackhawks: Stayed in the game but couldn’t finish it
The Chicago Blackhawks had a chance to win the game but they weren’t able to finish it off.
The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t look very good in game one so that made people feel pretty skeptical about their chances in game two. Well, they went down 2-0 rather quickly in the second game so it was really starting to feel like the Vegas Golden Knights were running away with the series. The Blackhawks showed some heart, however, and came back to tie the game at two.
The two kids, Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalik scored goals to get the Hawks and Knights tied. It was a great way to see this team show some fight against a much better team. It felt a bit deflating to see Mark Stone push Vegas ahead again not long after Chicago got it tied. However, Dylan Strome finally did something good when he tied the game as the second period was expiring. They always felt like they were in this game which was good to see.
Both teams went scoreless in the third period to force overtime. The Hawks had their chances but Reilly Smith scored at 7:13 of overtime to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 series lead. It was a tough break for Chicago but they have a steep hill to climb now.
It felt like they were always in the game but they were outshot by a total of 39-25. Corey Crawford had some good and bad moments in the game but he did almost face 40 pieces of rubber in this one. The Golden Knights come at you in waves as good as any team in the league and they really made it difficult on the Blackhawks.
One thing that people might be able to take away as a positive from this one is the play of Patrick Kane. It was clear that they needed a big game from him on the scoresheet to have a chance to win and he did. He had three assists and seemed to make his teammates better every time he was on the ice. Kane was never the problem as he needs so much more help getting the puck than he is getting. It was good to see him feeling good about things in this one. Hopefully, he can take that performance and carry the momentum into the next one.
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Now, they have a day off (today) before a weekend back to back against the Golden Knights. They need to win at least one to bring the series into next week. It feels like this game three is must win because they have big problems if they go down 3-0. This game was a step in the right direction but they have a long way to go.