One Sharp Overtime Goal Gives The Hawks A 5-4 Victory

Jan 4, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing Bryan Bickell (29) is congratulated for scoring during the second period against the Dallas Stars at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Blackhawks finally got back to the ice after their disappointing ending to the Winter Classic on Sunday night facing off against their divisional rival the Dallas Stars and this is how thing transpired at the United Center.

FIRST PERIOD

One thing the Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has been talking about lately is not starting out so slow, and the Hawks looked like they had received the message and came out flying in the first period.  Everyone looked like they had some jump in their skates and the Hawks did everything but score including a goal post by Niklas Hjalmarsson.  Then Jamie Benn knocked in a Tyler  Seguin shot and here we were again with the Hawks down in the first period with all that effort and it felt a bit deflating.

The Captain being the Captain wouldn’t let the Hawks trail for long when he put on a show next to Stars Goalie Kari Lehtonen when he took the puck with Stars players all over him and was able to set up Brandon Saad for a tap in goal.

The biggest story heading into the game was Teuvo Teravainen who played 4:23 including a minute on the Hawks only powerplay. He recorded 3 shots on goal with a hit but was manhandled on the boards the few times he was caught there. The Hawks out shot the Stars 13-8 through one period and we are all tied at one.

SECOND PERIOD

The second period was a copy of the first period times two.  The Stars after some good Blackhawks chances got on the board first when Jamie Benn scored to match his brothers goal in the first period, but like the first period the Hawks answered less than 2 minutes later when Patrick Sharp made a nice move at the blue line and then even nicer feed to set up Patrick Kane who had a wide open net and didn’t miss to tie up the game.

The Blackhawks every time they looked to be taking control of the game would turn over the puck in the neutral zone and the puck would be back in the Hawks zone and later in the period Erik Cole put the puck in past Crawford for another Stars lead.

The Hawks didn’t answer right away but they wouldn’t go to the intermission trailing either and on a powerplay Bryan Bickell was right in front of the Stars net and he was able to deflect a Brad Richards shot into the back of the net to tie it all up again at 3-3 which was the score when the horn sounded to end the second period.

THIRD PERIOD

The Blackhawks are sure making some bad habits and for the third time this game the Hawks let the Stars take the lead on a fantastic re-direct by Cole for his second goal of the game, a goal that Crawford was slow getting over but you have to credit Cole on the play.

The Hawks continued to put pressure on the Stars but the tying goal came from an almost impossible angle from Brad Richards in the corner that somehow found the back of the net.  The tie was nice but the overtime was crazy.

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The Hawks had three great chances and then the puck got behind Crawford who threw the puck out in front of his crease and had to scramble and dive to make the save to keep the game tied.  A minute later Duncan Keith made a nice pass to Sharp who didn’t miss and the Hawks had the game winning goal!

– Crawford hasn’t looked very sharp yet since returning.

-Teuvo looked much better in the third period, but was shuffled on 3 lines all game long.

-Bickell when he hits and stands in front of the net is very effective

HAWKS WIN HAWKS WIN!!