Friday night two top-tier teams, the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets met at the United Center to determine second place in the NHL.
Going into the game the two teams had 49 wins each but the Blue Jackets were ahead of the Hawks in the standings because of one less loss. The winner would take their 50th win of the season.
Goaltending was the story Friday night, but in the early going it didn't appear so. When the puck was dropped, so did Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage. The Blue Jackets took an early penalty 28 seconds in, as Brandon Dubinsky cross-checked Niklas Hjalmarsson. Jonathan Toews won the faceoff, gave it to Patrick Kane, and Kane dished it to a wide-open Artemi Panarin in the slot, who shot it past Bobrovsky on the glove side. Thirty seconds in, the Blackhawks had a 1-0 lead.
The puck was dropped, and shortly after that Panarin had a breakaway. He tried to go forehand-backhand on Bobrovsky, but the Vezina favorite stopped it with his blocker.
The Blue Jackets got on the board when a turnover turned into a goal as Jack Johnson passed to Sam Gagner behind the net, who gave it to Nick Foligno in front, who buried the puck in the back of the net.
With two and a half minutes left in the first period, Brent Seabrook lead Marian Hossa and Kane on a two on one with a great indirect pass. Kane passed it to Hossa who went to his backhand, letting Bobrovsky slide out of his crease before scoring on a wide-open net.
Down by one in the second period, the Blue Jackets couldn’t tie it up as the two goalies Corey Crawford and Sergei Bobrovsky steal the show (making a combined 53 saves during the game) and keeping the second period scoreless. The Blackhawks' Jordin Tootoo and Johnny Oduya each took penalties but the penalty kill came through. The shots on goal during the second were even, eight for each team.
Much like the second period, the goalies were doing their job. Late in the game, Hjalmarsson took a delay of game penalty with nine minutes remaining, but the Blackhawks pulled of a huge kill. With two minutes left, Bobrovsky came to the bench and the Blue Jackets made a last-ditch attempt to tie the game up. The Blackhawks had troubles clearing their zone, but Patrick Kane escaped to center ice and gave it to a wide-open Artemi Panarin, who had a breakaway and scored his second of the night. When the horn sounded, the Blackhawks had a 3-1 win.
Corey Crawford was the first star due to his 32 saves and one goal against. His support came from his two team mates Kane and Panarin. Kane assisted on all three goals and Panarin had two tallies.
Next up for Chicago: April 2 vs. Boston, 11:30 start.
Comments
Post a Comment