Recap: Blackhawks downed by Jets in first battle against Jonathan Toews

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First period 

The scoring got started early in this one. Just 1:21 into the game, Colton Dach put Winnipeg on the power play with a hooking call. Winnipeg made quick work of their power play opportunity. Just 21 seconds into the power play, Vladislav Namestnikov got a feed in front of the net and buried his shot, 1-0 Jets.

It took a little bit for the Blackhawks to answer, but they did on a gift goal. A Connor Murphy dump-in took a crazy bounce that came in front of the net, with Connor Hellebuyck stuck behind the net. Teuvo Teravainen put the puck home, making it 1-1.

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The Jets would come back and put another goal past Spencer Knight before the period was over, though. It was Alex Vlasic versus two Jets on a rush towards the Blackhawks’ net. Mark Scheifele found Gabe Vilardi, who tapped it home to put Winnipeg up 2-1 to end the period.

Second period

Like a broken record, in the same amount of time as the first period, Winnipeg would get a goal past Knight. Under two minutes into the second, Kyle Connor got the puck over to Scheifele. It was not a particularly strong or good shot, but it went right through the five-hole of Knight, 3-1 Jets. Just under 10 minutes later, it was Vilardi again on a feed in front from Dylan DeMelo to make it 4-1 Winnipeg. That would be how the second period would end, with the Blackhawks in a massive hole.

Third period

The Blackhawks managed to make it through the first few minutes of the period unscathed, but the Jets did come back and score first all the same. Josh Morrissey put a shot on net from the point that went off the post, off of Knight’s skate and into the back of the net to make it 5-1 Jets.

Around three minutes later, Bedard fished a Murphy shot out from the front of the net. It found its way to Vlasic, who put home his first of the season to make it 5-2 Winnipeg.

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Two minutes later, the Blackhawks would strike again. Bedard took a shot from the point that found Andre Burakovsky in front. He made a fancy move to put the puck through his legs and put it top shelf, 5-3 Jets.

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With less than three minutes left, Knight was going to leave the ice for an extra attacker. He never got the chance to, as the Blackhawks turned the puck over to the Jets. Connor then got a backhander from in front of the right circle and roofed it past Knight, putting the cherry on top for the Jets in a 6-3 victory for Winnipeg.

Analysis

This was by far the Blackhawks’ most lopsided loss this season. To this point, even in losses, they have been able to keep it close and always seemed to have chances to come back. This was too deep of a hole to dig out of. Knight definitely played his worst game of the season by a landslide, with multiple weak shots leading to goals that should not have happened. Some of that can be blamed on the defense, but the five-hole goal from Scheifele is all on him. Defensively, the Blackhawks looked like they were not ready for the quickness that the Jets would come at them with, and definitely that led to some breaks in the other direction. It was a bit of a mess in this game, as the Blackhawks clearly were not ready for this game. Hopefully this gets them back on track for the rest of this road trip or else it will be a long five-game stretch here for this team.

The Blackhawks next head to Alberta on Saturday night to take on the Edmonton Oilers. That game will be at 9 p.m. CDT on CHSN.