CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks have struggled in the second half of back-to-back situations. Heading into Sunday, that put some emphasis on playing well against the Vegas Golden Knights.
One night prior, the Blackhawks defeated the Washington Capitals on the road in a shootout. Although they’ve been better again since coming back from the holiday break, not getting blown out in this situation was important to them as a group.
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This game was the first of “The Banner Years” chapter for the Blackhawks’ centennial season. Throughout the chapter, they will be celebrating the era that saw them win three Stanley Cups in six years.
Fittingly, Brandon Saad scored the first goal of the game to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Saad, of course, won two Stanley Cups with Chicago in 2013 and 2015.
Just under two minutes later, Tyler Bertuzzi scored to tie the game. This was Bertuzzi’s 20th goal of the season, and it was a great wrist shot.
43 seconds into the second period, Jack Eichel drove the puck to the net and Mark Stone found the rebound before shooting it home to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.
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There wasn’t a whole lot of scoring after that. Things were quiet on the scoreboard until Tyler Bertuzzi put in his second of the game at 11:36 of the third period. Ryan Greene’s never-say-die mentality allowed him to make a cross crease feed to Bertuzzi, who slid it into the open cage.
With there being no more goals in regulation, the Blackhawks went to overtime for the second game in as many days. That is also the fourth time in six games that Chicago has seen the game reach the fourth period.
In overtime, Tyler Bertuzzi completed the hat trick for the 3-2 win. The puck narrowly crossed the goal line, and then the hats started to fly onto the ice.
While the crew was still cleaning up all of the hats, the officials were reviewing the play for offside. It was a strange scenario to see both teams stay on the ice with all these hats and the Blackhawks celebrating, but the goal was upheld.
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Now, the Blackhawks are 3-0-0 in their last three games. All of this good play is coming with Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar out of the lineup. Before the game, head coach Jeff Blashill said that Bedard would be back before the Olympic break, but he couldn’t confirm the same update for Nazar.
One night after Spencer Knight played well to help the Blackhawks to a win, Arvid Soderblom did the same thing. He made 13 saves on just 15 shots, but Vegas has some supreme shooters who had their chances.
Chicago finally exercised some demons when it comes to the second half of back-to-back situations. They were winless in these coming in, but this time, they locked it down against a great team and finished the job.
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What’s Next For The Blackhawks?
The Blackhawks are back in action on Wednesday night. This will be a national broadcast against the St. Louis Blues on TNT.
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