The Hawks kicked off the home portion of their schedule with a battle against the Red Wings. Despite being in the midst of a rebuild, it was a great surprise to see how many fans actually showed up for the red carpet and the game. Now, to be fair, there was lots a Wings fans in the stands. It was great nostalgia for the dark days of the 90s and early 2000s.
For a lot of you, this is a game that is going to sting as you might feel with each win, this team is playing themselves out of the Bedard sweepstakes. For others you have to really like what we are seeing from this team.
This is now back-to-back games that this team has battled back from 2-0 deficits and not only battled back but came out with the victory. This team is showing a lot of guts and through four games they are sending the message across the league that they are not just going to lie town and let you walk all over them.
Takeaways
Team is Deeper Than Expected
The last two games the Hawks find a way to come out with the victory and they are doing it at the hands of guys not named Kane and Toews. Going into this season it was expected that any and all offense was going to go through these two. Lafferty leads the team with 5 points. While Kurashev, Dickinson, and Johnson each have three points. Kane and Toews combined have 3 total points, with Kane having only 1 assist. You keep hearing brace yourself for post Kane and Toews life, well, here’s a good look at it now.
Richardson’s Team Idenity
I know I talk about this a lot in my blogs, but that’s because I feel it might be one of the most important parts of this rebuild. The identity and style of play that Richardson wants to build off of this aggressive and tough-to-play against hockey is loud and clear. The fact this team is buying into this so quickly and the fact it is working is extremely important. When it comes time to be buyers and go after big names having proof of what this team can do is so important. This is what is going to make Chicago a top destination again. The way this team responded after going down 3-1 and coming out so strong in the 3rd should be praised and a lot of that is owed to Richardson.
Goaltending Not as Big of a Concern
Mrazek once again had a decent showing. 2 of the 3 goals he let up were tips, which seems to be the story of his season. He did not finish this game as he didn’t play in the third due to a groin strain. Stalock came in cold to start the third and turned away all ten shots he faced in the 22 minutes of action he saw. Now I know this is going to last and at some point these guys are going to have multiple bad games, but it feels good seeing Mrazek and Stalock stepping up and giving this team a fighting chance.
Three Stars
3rd Star Andreas Anthanasiou
The more I watch him play, the more I am convinced he is too fast for his own good. It is mesmerizing to watch him fly out there, but because of his speed he almost moves to fast for his own good. This is why seeing him draw a penalty shot and getting his first goal of the season this way was great to see.
2nd Star Sam Lafferty
Lafferty might have been the best Hawk one the ice last night, getting 2 more assists and using his body to lead the team with 4 hits. He is off to an amazing start this year and is slowly becoming Kyle Davidson's best pick up as GM.
1st Star Max Domi
This was Max’s best game of the season; he is really embracing the spark plug role. He did get a little carried away, drawing a completely unnecessary penalty when the Hawks where on the power play, however, he calmed things down as the game went on and was able to force a turnover and turn that into the game winning goal in overtime.
Quick Notes
~With Mrazek injured the Hawks have recalled goaltender Arvid Soderblom
~Regula was assigned Rockford
~For those of you worried about losing on Bedard here is a Fantilli update
I'll be back tomorrow morning to preview Hawks vs Kraken.
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