Blackhawks News: Lukas Reichel leads Chicago to a huge win

The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Calgary Flames on Sunday night. After coming off a very fun 2-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday, there were some good vibes surrounding the team. Patrick Kane is still missing with his injury but is expected to be back when they play next.

One player who has stepped up in the place of Patrick Kane is Lukas Reichel. After having his best game in the NHL with nothing to show for it against the Coyotes on Friday, he had an even better game against a much stronger opponent.

He started things off with his first career NHL goal just a few minutes into the game. He did what goal-scorers do and went to the front of the net. When you have hands as good as he does, you’ll score some goals if you go to that area of the ice regularly.

He wasn’t done there though. With the Blackhawks up 2-1 going into the second period, Reichel and his line made some noise just :35 seconds into the middle frame.

Coming down the wing, he got one of the best goalies in the world Jacob Markstrom to freeze up which left Philipp Kurashev with a wide-open net. Reichel found him with the backdoor pass and the Hawks went up 3-1.

Lukas Reichel put the team on his back in their Sunday night victory.

Now, the Hawks are a horrible defensive team but Alex Stalock kept him in it with his incredible goaltending (he has been the team’s best player this year). The Flames came all the way back and got it tied at three before the end of the second period.

In overtime, Reichel decided that he wasn’t done making awesome plays. He made a great play to find Max Domi in front of the net who didn’t miss scoring the game-winning goal. Domi’s 12th of the season was his second overtime winner this season.

With his play this weekend, Reichel earned himself a longer stay with the NHL club which is amazing. He didn’t look like someone who didn’t belong in his previous NHL action but he wasn’t producing any points. Now, he might have turned a bit of a corner.

Don’t expect him to have three points a night because nobody really does that but he seems like a kid that might end up working out long-term. Wouldn’t he look good playing with Connor Bedard? Hopefully, the Hawks are smart with his development as they move along here.

They are done playing now until Thursday which should be a nice little rest for them. They will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche who are very injured and looking to get back in the thick of the postseason race. This should be a great test for Reichel and the guys.