Bertuzzi, Blackhawks grind out a big win over Golden Knights

The second half of back-to-back games has been a nightmare for the Chicago Blackhawks this season. Heading into tonight's game against the Vegas Golden Knights, they were 0-4-0 while being outscored 27-7 in the second night. Tyler Bertuzzi scored his second hat trick of the season to cap off a 3-2 overtime victory.

We’ve heard head coach Jeff Blashill talk a lot this season about his team needing to find a way to compete on a night when they do have their “A game.” Tonight was one of those nights, except this time they kept the game close with great team defense, solid goaltending, and Bertuzzi’s heroics.

“We’ve done a really good job of just playing pretty solid hockey, taking what’s available to us, not forcing a bunch of stuff, attacking when we can attack and not attacking when we don’t have the opportunity to, and just kind of trying to grind,” he said. “There’s a maturity in that. We haven’t been perfect at it, but there’s a maturity in that.”

Sticking to the Process

The Blackhawks have struggled to produce consistent offense this season, even when Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar were in the lineup. They have been near the bottom of the league in shots on goal all year. When they have had the puck, which has been a struggle at times, it’s been a lot of one-and-done possessions.

However, they have been establishing more offensive pressure and longer shifts with the puck of late. Blashill says that has been building over the last 10 games.

“I think we’ve been pretty predictable to each other,” he said. “Predictable through the neutral zone. We’ve done a better job of arriving on time with our middle drive, so either first touch on it or enough forecheck pressure that you get it back. That’s where it starts. From there, we’ve done a good job of not forcing plays, using a cycle game to almost tilt the ice mentality. We spend time in their end, wear them down. If they can chip it out of the neutral zone, we jam it right back down their throats. That’s the way we’d like to play, and something we’ve talked a lot about specifically also. I’d say that was heightened when Connor and Frankie both went out. We had to be ground and pound at that point.”

The Blackhawks had 61 shot attempts against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. It was only the eighth game this season where the Blackhawks put up more than 60 shot attempts, and the third time since Bedard was injured on Dec. 12.

The first period was not what the Blackhawks were looking for. They didn’t get much sustained offensive zone time and finished the frame with 13 shot attempts. The good news was that they allowed only 15 shot attempts and finished even at 6-6 in scoring chances. The second period was much better, with a 20-13 advantage in shot attempts.

The third period was one of their most impressive of the season. Playing their sixth period in 24 hours, instead of looking tired, they had their best frame of the net. They led in all categories: shot attempts (23-12), shots on goal (7-2), scoring chances (13-7), high-danger scoring chances (72-), and goals (1-0). They finished the night with 58 total shot attempts, another night well above their season average.

Bert Alert!

Bertuzzi has been excellent all season long, but he has really stepped up his game over the past few weeks. His first-period goal put him ahead of Connor Bedard for the team lead with 20. But, he wasn’t done there, tying the game in the third period and winning it early in overtime. This was his second hat trick since Nov. 5, after having three in his entire career coming into the season. He has six goals and eight points in his last six games.

“I’ve certainly been impressed with Bert all year, his approach, his effort, what he’s been able to get accomplished,” Blashill said. “He’s done a good job, and he’s continued to play at a consistent level. What I like, honestly, is that to me, it doesn’t even feel elevated. It just feels like it’s consistent. It’s been pretty consistent all season long.”

The contrast between this season and last is incredible. Not that Bertuzzi was bad last year, but his consistency was an issue. That has not been a problem through 42 games, as he’s been engaged on a nightly basis. He’s one goal shy of equaling his output from last season, and eight from tying his career-high of 30, set playing under Blashill in 2021-22.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• The Blackhawks allowed just 15 shots on goal. As Ben Pope pointed out, that was the fewest shots allowed since 2013. More impressive than that was limiting Vegas to only 40 shot attempts. They produced 24 scoring chances, 13 of which were high-danger, but missed the net 15 times. On their lone power play of the night, the Golden Knights had five shot attempts and four scoring chances, but no shots on goal.

• Arvid Soderblom earned his fifth win of the season in his 100th NHL game. He didn’t have to make too many saves, but he was good when he had to be. The Golden Knights had some prime scoring chances in the first few minutes of the game, but Soderblom came up with some big stops. He’s played much better in his last two starts, so hopefully that trend continues.

• Artyom Levshunov deserves a ton of credit for his game tonight. He led the team with 23:39 of ice time and 10 shot attempts. He had the secondary assist on the game-winning goal because of a tremendous individual effort. He retrieved a loose puck along the left boards in his own zone and was immediately hounded by Jack Eichel. He fought him off and shielded the puck all the way around his own net before getting it up the ice.

• Ryan Greene had another effective night playing between Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky. He produced two individual high-danger scoring chances, but could not find the back of the net. He’ll start finding a way to beat NHL goaltenders. His primary assist on Bertuzzi’s game-tying goal was a thing of beauty. The rookie has to be the biggest surprise of the season, considering he was set to start the year in the AHL.

• After losing the first five games without Bedard, the Blackhawks are now 4-6-1 since he injured his shoulder. More impressively, they are 3-2-1 without both Bedard and Frank Nazar and are only two points out of a playoff spot. Crazy!