Golden Knights Play Shinny Hockey, Narrowly Avoid Collapse

The Blackhawks answered back with a goal of their own. Alex Vlasic ripped a shot from the point that ended up on the stick of Nick Foligno. Ilya Samsonov made the initial save, but Foligno potted his own rebound.

The Golden Knights were mad. They were shot out of a cannon and scored four unanswered goals to end the first period. Ivan Barbashev and Brett Howden raced up ice on a 2-on-2. Barbashev curled into the zone and left the puck for Howden. Connor Murphy blocked Howden’s wrister, but Nic Hague was there to bury the rebound.

On the powerplay, Ivan Barbashev passed to Victor Olofsson. Olofsson played catch with Raphaël Lavoie at the goal line, then fed Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo ripped a one-timer, and Ivan Barbashev redirected it past Petr Mrázek.

Back on the power play, the Golden Knights cycled the puck. Noah Hanifin worked it to Jack Eichel, who held the puck and drifted deeper into the zone toward the goal line. From the side of the goal, Eichel threaded a pass to Tomáš Hertl in the bumper, who one-timed it past Mrázek for his 11th power play goal of the season.

With just over a minute to go in the first period, the Golden Knights struck again. Tomáš Hertl pressured Ryan Donato, who turned the puck over to Pavel Dorofeyev. Dorofeyev shielded the puck from Alex Vlasic and beat Mrázek far-side.

Arvid Söderblom led a most likely thoroughly chastised Blackhawks team out for the second period. Immediately, the momentum shifted. Barely a minute into the second, a series of unfortunate events occurred. Tyler Bertuzzi fanned on a shot. Noah Hanifin didn’t get rid of the puck fast enough and was hit by Colton Dach. Bertuzzi got to the puck and fed it to Frank Nazar at the point. Nazar one-timed a shot, and Dach redirected it past Samsonov.

Four minutes later, the Blackhawks struck again. Connor Bedard fired a shot wide, and Connor Murphy got to the puck first and left the puck for Ryan Donato. Donato spun away from Brett Howden’s hit and found Ethan Del Mastro wide open. Del Mastro settled the puck and beat Samsonov over the blocker for his first NHL goal.

The Golden Knights answered back to stop the bleeding. Nic Roy centered and found Ivan Barbashev all alone in the high slot. Barbashev twisted a shot off the post, and Keegan Kolesar was there to collect the change for his second of the night. This goal stood as the game-winner.

The Blackhawks once again made things interesting in the third. Connor Murphy gloved down the puck and touched it to Frank Nazar. Nazar drove into the zone, then passed to Ilya Mikheyev, who rifled a shot over Samsonov’s glove. Snipe city, population Ilya Mikheyev.

Don’t look now; here come the Hawks. Craig Smith drove into the zone, blew past Brayden McNabb, and centered to Philipp Kurashev. Kurashev, all alone in the slot, slammed the puck past Samsonov to make it a one-goal game

The Golden Knights ended the Blackhawks’ comeback push with just over four minutes to go. Ivan Barbashev cut into the zone and left the puck for Keegan Kolesar. Kolesar danced around Seth Jones, curled back, and passed to Noah Hanifin at the point. Soderblom blockered aside Hanifin’s one-timer, but Brett Howden got to the rebound first. Howden turned and fired a shot on net, and Barbashev tipped it home. It also took a bounce off Jones’s skate. 

Crisis averted.

“[It’s hard] when we have a big lead,” said Tomáš Hertl postgame. “We should be pushing. We should get to the offensive zone and hold the puck like we did earlier this season… Now, we give up a little too much.”

Game Notes

I reckon we’ll see a lot more of that Barbashev-Howden-Kolesar line. They were fantastic– far and away, the best line on the ice. HockeyStatCards rated them the three highest players on the team, and you could see why. They meshed really, really well. They made their presence felt every time they hopped over the boards.

Ivan Barbashev snapped a 17-game goalless drought last Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. A four-point night and the primary assist on the game-winning goal was just what the doctor ordered. 

Tomáš Hertl’s power play goal in the first puts him at 11 on the season. This ties him for the most power play goals in a single season in franchise history with Jack Eichel (2023-24) and Erik Haula (2017-18).

There are two lenses through which to look at this game. On one hand, the offense came alive in a way it hasn’t in months– the last time the Golden Knights escorted seven goals was on October 26th against the San Jose Sharks. On the other hand…

We have to be better at not letting other teams get back into the game. We gave them a chance,” said Ivan Barbashev. “In the second period, we gave them two quick ones. Same thing in the third; they scored twice quick. We’ve just got to be better.” 

Three stars of the game: Ivan Barbashev, Keegan Kolesar, Brett Howden