Starting Lineup
The starting lineup with Ian Mitchell in for Nicolas Beaudin and Philipp Kurashev in for Pius Suter:
And the starters for the opening shift:
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Scoring Recap
1st Goal: Duclair (0-1)
With Wyatt Kalynuk giving chase, Anthony Duclair got out of the penalty box, received an outlet pass, and carried it around almost the entire perimeter of his offensive zone before cutting to the middle to score on Kevin Lankinen.
2nd Goal: Gusev (0-2)
After a failed clearing attempt by Dominik Kubalik who was run to the boards by Radko Gudas, Ryan Lomberg dumped the puck down low to Nikita Gusev who beat both Riley Stillman and Mitchell as he drove hard to the net for the marker.
3rd Goal: Murphy (1-2) PP
Connor Murphy hammered in a shot from the right point as he got help from Adam Gaudette who provided a temporary screen on Sergei Bobrovsky then moved out of the way at the last moment to give the puck a path to find the back of the net.
4th Goal: DeBrincat (2-2)
Driving hard to the net from the neutral zone, Gaudette used speed and a juke around Gudas to get all Panthers eyes on him permitting Alex DeBrincat and Mike Hardman to crash the crease. Gaudette then sent a backhander to DeBrincat for the tally.
5th Goal: Barkov (2-3)
Gustav Forsling and Duclair teamed up to execute a give-and-go in the neutral zone that propelled Forsling down the right wing where he drew 3 defenders toward him before sliding the puck over to Aleksander Barkov who sent the puck top shelf.
6th Goal: Duclair (2-4)
Starting with Murphy's poor outlet pass, Grigori Denisenko easily picked it off to start a passing sequence with Barkov and eventually set up Duclair all alone on the right side to get Lankinen sprawling on the ice then slip the puck past him.
7th Goal: Tippett (2-5)
Again, an ill-advised pass led to another Panthers goal. This time, Patrick Kane tried to send a pass along the end boards but Sam Bennett had an easy interception and sent a centering feed to Owen Tippett all by his lonesome in the slot.
8th Goal: Dach (3-5) PP
Kurashev entered the zone down the left flank and fired a wide-angle shot that Forsling blocked but Kurashev followed up with good eye-hand coordination to tap the puck to Kirby Dach who used his own eye-hand coordination to poke in a goal.
9th Goal: Kubalik (4-5)
(No video available)
As the Hawks overloaded the left side with Lankinen pulled for the extra attacker, Kane sent a rocket of a pass over to Kubalik alone at the right faceoff dot where he roofed a wrister with 18 seconds left in regulation.
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Game Notes
Clearing the Zone
The Blackhawks still lack consistency in clearing the zone cleanly and with authority as they have weak inaccurate outlet passes or get stymied a few feet from breaching the blueline rather than make a simple bank pass off the boards to play it safe.
Backbreaking Goals
A bad habit the Hawks have is letting in goals in the final minute of periods and the opening minute of periods. Unfortunately, they did both in the game and a lot worse with a goal with 7 seconds left in the 2nd and 2 goals within the first minute of the 3rd.
Covering Nobody
On Duclair's 2nd goal to start the 3rd, all Hawks players were fixated on Denisenko and Barkov but no one on him. Then on Tippett's goal, Duncan Keith and Kalynuk both vacated the front of the net leaving him unguarded to score uncontested.
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Player Notes
Adam Gaudette
Gaudette may just very well be finding a groove with Chicago showing off an ability to generate offense. Averaging under 10 minutes of TOI in 3 games, Gaudette has a goal and 3 assists. He could stand to get more shots off, though.
Dylan Strome
On the flipside is Dylan Strome who has seen his playing time increase over the past 4 games racking up plenty of shots and creating chances for teammates but not much to show for it. In the last 11 games, he has only a goal and 2 helpers.
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Rockford Updates
Starting Lineup
Scoring Recap
1st Goal: Pirri (1-0) PP
Brandon Pirri extended his point streak to 5 games with a back-door power play marker from the right circle as Cody Franson, Dylan McLaughlin, and MacKenzie Entwistle overloaded the left side with puck movement to isolate the Grand Rapids defense.
2nd Goal: McLaughlin (2-0) SH
After an errant pass by the Griffins that squirted from blueline to blueline, McLaughlin pounced on the loose puck and put on the afterburners to blaze in alone on a shorthanded breakaway and deke around goalie Kevin Boyle before the tuck in.
3rd Goal: Regula (3-0)
Michal Teply generated a scoring chance with patience and stickhandling along the left boards to evade 2 Griffins defenders and draw attention to him before spotting Alec Regula at the far point for the shot and the goal to put Rockford up by a field goal.
4th Goal: Hirose (3-1)
On the shift after Regula's goal, the Griffins got one back as Riley Barber and Hayden Verbeek moved the puck swiftly down low to draw Ivan Nalimov out of his net which allowed Taro Hirose to sneak to the open side and get Grand Rapids on the scoreboard.
5th Goal: Turgeon (3-2)
Jared McIsaac ripped a shot from the left point that Dominic Turgeon tipped downward and through the wickets of Nalimov whose tracking may have been off as the point shot may have been redirected before the puck got to Turgeon.
Player Notes
Isaak Phillips showed assertiveness to lock it down defensively in front of his goalie and skate pucks out of his end with haste.
Cole Moberg continued to exert aggressiveness in his defensive play to take opponents out of plays and make one solid clearing pass.
Not just crafty and shifty with his puck carries, McLaughlin also isn't shy to venture into the rough areas or park in the slot.
On an upswing in his development, Teply is exhibiting greater comfort and composure to make plays at both ends of the ice.
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See you on the boards!
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