Blackhawks Continue Solid Play in 5-3 Win Over VGK

The Chicago Blackhawks keep rolling in an impressive 5-3 road win in Vegas.

In one of the more entertaining games of the season, the Chicago Blackhawks came back from 2-0 down in the first period to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3. The ‘Hawks improve to 7-7-4 on the season, reaching that .500 mark for the first time since early in the season. This was also the first time the Blackhawks have beaten the Golden Knights since the Knights entered the league in 2017.

The new system that the ‘Hawks coaching staff has implemented is working, as these past three wins have all come against superior opponents. It’s a sign of good things to come.

It was all hands on deck for the Chicago Blackhawks last night, as they got production from up and down the lineup including the defense. This is the first time this season that the defense really showed some offensive prowess.

The game changed on a dime in the second period when the ‘Hawks scored two goals in 45 seconds, by Calvin de Haan and Erik Gustafsson. The goals came right after Alex Tuch thought he had scored a goal, but it actually hit two posts and bounced out.

Patrick Kane also continued his red-hot run by extending his point streak to seven games and his goal streak to four games. Kane’s play has made this Blackhawks’ team look much better over the last couple of weeks.

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Corey Crawford also had a solid performance in net, but the Chicago Blackhawks’ defense still gave up more shots than Crawford should have to face. After giving up 57 on Sunday, they gave up 42 last night. While the defense will be getting Connor Murphy back on Saturday, they still have work to do.

Two ‘Hawks who shined last night were Kirby Dach and Zack Smith, who both played like men on a mission. Smith had a penalty shot in the first minutes of the game and failed to convert, but added two assists on the night, as well as some key defensive plays.

For Dach, he posted his first multi-point performance of his career, and recorded a point in back-to-back games for the first time. This included a great goal that increased the lead to 4-2 in the third period. Dach is really getting comfortable at the NHL level and it shows.

For the Golden Knights, they had goals from William Carrier, William Karlsson, and Nate Schmidt. In the end, it wasn’t enough for them, even behind the always solid goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury.

Dylan Strome put the icing on the cake late in third period with a breakaway goal off a nice pass from Alex DeBrincat. They have been dynamite since being reunited, and having Patrick Kane on your line has got to help.

The Chicago Blackhawks look the best they have looked all season and they will try to continue their solid play on Saturday in Nashville, when they take on the Predators.