Blackhawks at Blue Jackets Feb 13, 2021 NHL Summary: Score, Stats, Videos, Highlights

The Blackhawks got into Saturday’s rematch with the Blue Jackets looking for redemption after wasting a two-goal lead in the final game. This time it was the Blackhawks who played spoiler, scoring with a few minutes left under the rules and again in extra time on yet another winning goal from Alex Debrincat for a 3-2 victory.

Patrick Laine opened the scoring at 6:39 AM in the first with a bar-and-down spipe in the top corner. Just a beauty of a picture. The Jackets scored first in 12 of the 16 games.

Later in the first, Brandon Hagel hard controlled Jack Roslovic, and Laine inexplicably decided to defend his honor. Hagel and Laine each got five for fights, but the Blackhawks got away with the power play opportunity when Laine was awarded an additional interference penalty.

The first period looked like it would be just a continuation of the last game with the Blue Jackets dictating, but the Blackhawks built up momentum after a few power plays that did everything but score.

The Blackhawks finished with 14 shots against the Jackets’ 9, but still trailed 1-0 at the end of the period.

That momentum would carry over into the midframe, and after a long offensive zone time for the Blackhawks, Nicolas Beaudin scored his second in as many games to make it a 1-1 draw.

At a scary moment, Mattias Janmark took a puck to the head and went into the dressing room with 8:40 turning into the second. Fortunately, he would return the sofa not long after.

Cam Atkinson broke the tie with 5:13 to go in the second period by repelling a point shot from Zach Werenski. This was Atkinson’s sixth run in the last two games against the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks pushed hard after the second goal against and got several chances in the expiring minutes of the period. Dylan Strome may have had the best, but Joonas Korpisalo came out big to keep the Blue Jackets ahead.

Despite the Blackhawks controlling much of the game in the first 40 minutes, they were behind 2-1 in the final period.

The third period would be the antithesis of the first two as the Blue Jackets were trapped through the neutral zone to choke the Blackhawks.

The Hawks are nothing but bouncy, however, and they scored the tying goal with 3:45 remaining in the game. Philipp Kurashev made a great move to hit the puck to Carl Soderberg, who scored his first goal of the season.

The regulation ended with a draw of Blackhawks and Jackets on 2, so they are working overtime again.

Fortunately, Debrincat finished the game quickly, scoring just 35 seconds after extra time with beautiful hand-eye coordination. Patrick Kane also picked up his third assist of the match. Those two really feel the chemistry.

HAWKS WIN! HAWKS WIN!

Comments

It feels almost unnecessary at the moment, but the Blackhawks kids are really okay. The team is led by the vets in Kane and Keith, but the young players are all impressive in their own way and it’s just a joy to see them.
Speaking of impressive, Nicolas Beaudin not only scored his second NHL goal, his steady play with and without the puck becomes a hallmark of him. There’s a level of comfort that Beaudin shows that is great to watch considering he turned 21 just a few months ago.
Hail quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his work ethic and relentless pursuit of the puck, and he probably only endeared himself more by dropping the gloves against Laine. Hail is a spark plug Andrew Shaw needs to guide him in converting that energy into production.
Kurashev was also a catalyst in this game. He pulled the first penalty of the game – which swung in favor of the Hawks – and picked Werenski’s pocket to assist in the tie.
DeBrincat and Kane have always worked well together, but this season they seemed to have taken it to another level. They own the puck well in their 128-minute Ice Age, along with a 52 percent share of shot attempts and 63 percent of goals scored while on the ice. Kane had his seventh multipoint game of the season.
There has been a lot of discussion about the Blackhawks’ underperformance at 5v5, but they were much better tonight in the first 40 minutes. Some of that is due to scoring effects, and they couldn’t get anything going in the third – seriously, the Hawks only had a 7.95 expected goal percentage for that frame – but you should be happy with the improvements from the last game.
On the other hand, the power play failed to score for the first time in six games. It still looked dangerous, but the streak had to end someday.