Recap: Blackhawks best Mammoth 3-1 for first win of season

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First period

This came would start with a good defensive battle. Some hits were doled out both ways, with the Blackhawks getting the majority of the scoring chances. The closest came on a Teuvo Teravainen shot from the right circle that beat Vitek Vanecek, but didn’t find twine as it rang off the far post. The strangest thing happened with about six minutes to go, when the lights just randomly dipped in the United Center.

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The period would end in the same scoreless tie that it started with.

Second period

The second period was more of the same early on. Mostly, though, the action centered on the Blackhawks’ end of the ice, with Utah getting far more shots than they allowed early on. With just under 10 and a half minutes to go in the period, Mikheyev got the puck down low and tried a stuff shot on net that got past Vanecek for the first goal of the game, putting the Blackhawks up 1-0.

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The Blackhawks killed off the one penalty they took in the period, keeping their 1-0 leading going into the intermission.

Third period

The Mammoth struck early in this period. The Blackhawks had a dump-in from their end, getting fresh bodies on the ice. They didn’t get back on defense in time, leading Dylan Guenther to get a good chance that sent the rebound to John-Jason Peterka, who buried his first of the season to knot things up 1-1.

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With just over 11 minutes left in the game, the Blackhawks went on the power play. Mikhail Sergachev got called for a hold on Connor Bedard, giving Chicago the man advantage. They did indeed take advantage, with Nick Foligno finding a wide-open Andre Burakovsky, who potted his first as a Blackhawk, 2-1 Chicago.

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With 12 seconds left, Bedard won a defensive-zone draw to get the puck out of danger. Mikheyev would put one more goal on the board with the empty-netter, and the Blackhawks would take the win 3-1.

Analysis

The Blackhawks, despite looking like they weren’t quite ready to play at times in this game, managed to make the plays they needed to get the win. The line of Mikheyev, Dickinson and Ryan Donato is a feisty one and hopefully will stay intact the rest of the season. Knight continued his strong start to the season. Even though the Blackhawks hadn’t won yet, he is the reason that the Hawks were close at all in each of his appearances. Overall, this was a good team effort to get the W.

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The Blackhawks’ next game is on Wednesday night in St. Louis to take on the Blues. That game will be at 8:30 p.m. CDT on TNT for Wednesday Night Rivalry.