Recap: Blackhawks dethrone Kings, win at home 2-1

https://platform.x.com/widgets.js

First period

Two and a half minutes into the game, the Blackhawks were already down. After Chicago failed to clear the puck out of the zone, the Kings got it in deep. After a scramble in front, Andre Lee and Jared Wright poked it free to Samuel Helenius, who poked it past Spencer Knight, 1-0 Los Angeles.

The Blackhawks actually put some pressure on the Kings after the goal. By the end of the period, they had almost equal shots, though not quite as many high-danger opportunities. Knight settled in as well and stopped the other Los Angeles opportunities in the period. We would go to the second with the score still 1-0 Kings after the very early goal.

Second period

Finally, the Blackhawks looked to have a period that they looked like they would control. Just a few seconds into the period, Moore set up Artyom Levshunov for a huge opportunity. He was stymied by Anton Forsberg, but the Blackhawks would not let up. Just 2:20 in, Ryan Donato was denied on a chance in tight that would have tied it up.

https://platform.x.com/widgets.js

Late in the period, the Kings’ Joel Armia took back-to-back penalties to give the Blackhawks multiple chances on the power play. The first came and went, but nine seconds into the second opportunity, Connor Bedard found Roman Kantserov right in front of the net, who scored to knot things up 1-1.

https://platform.x.com/widgets.js

Both teams would go to the third period all tied up at 1-1.

Third period

The Kings started off the third period on the power play. Sam Rinzel got called for a high stick that drew blood late in the second, so that bled over into the third. The Kings got good puck movement on their power play, but could not beat Knight, who kept things tied 1-1. After a great opportunity for Bedard that was turned aside, the Blackhawks had the puck in the attacking zone again. Patrick Kane got the puck to Frank Nazar. He saw Wyatt Kaiser getting in close, and found him with the puck. He wristed it past Forsberg for his first of the season, making it 2-1 Blackhawks.

https://platform.x.com/widgets.js

The Kings would get a few more shots on net, but it wouldn’t be enough to beat Knight. The Blackhawks would close this one out, getting the 2-1 victory.

Analysis

The Blackhawks did a lot right this game that they haven’t done all season. They seemed to want to play the entire game this time, which has not happened in most other games this season. There have been periods of play where they haven’t shown up at all, but that was not the case for this game. Knight did some bailing out, as he often does, but the team was better in this game defensively than I have seen the rest of the year. On the Kaiser goal, the Blackhawks showed how well this offense can run. The crisp passing was something that, as Blackhawks fans, you hope can become a staple of this team for the rest of the season.

The Blackhawks’ next game is on Thursday night in Motor City to face the Detroit Red Wings. That game will be at 6:30 p.m. CDT on Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+.