Chicago Blackhawks send United Center crowd home happy

The Chicago Blackhawks front office secretly wants them to lose way more than they want them to win. There are some very good players at the top of the 2023 NHL Draft that they would like to have the opportunity to look at.

However, the players on the current roster trying to make a living aren’t thinking about that. That is especially true for the home opener. After a long summer of big moves being made using the word “rebuild”, it was nice to just see some hockey back at the United Center.

It wasn’t an easy game for the Blackhawks at all against the Detroit Red Wings. They found themselves down 3-1 at one point. Two former Blackhawks in Pius Suter and Dominik Kubalik scored in addition to Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin.

The one goal scored there was a penalty shot goal for Andreas Athanasiou. It was a very pretty goal for him as he went for it on the most exciting play in hockey. You don’t see penalty shots every day and he didn’t miss his chance.

The Chicago Blackhawks needed a comeback effort to try and win on Friday.

When down 3-1, they started to turn the tide when Alex Stalock came in to replace an injured Petr Mrazek who has had better games as an NHL goalie. Stalock went the rest of the game without allowing a goal to Detroit.

Philipp Kurashev scored at 3:46 of the third period to bring them within one. Just over six minutes later, Connor Murphy scored a short-handed goal to tie the game when it was least expected. It was starting to feel like one of those special home games.

Max Domi made sure of it when he found himself with a point-blank shot in overtime and he did not miss. He scored his second of the season to give the Hawks the 4-3 comeback victory in overtime. It was a fantastic way to break into the home schedule.

There are going to be a lot of people supporting the tank method throughout this season but it was nice to see the Hawks get a big home win in their first game of the year at the United Center. The crowd certainly went home happy.

You never know if this was the last-ever home opener for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in Blackhawks sweaters so it was nice to see it end like that. The Hawks are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Seattle Kraken in a matinee. That should be fun.