Blackhawks' goalies still performing despite tough losses

The Chicago Blackhawks' goaltending duo of Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom has proven to be a pretty sturdy foundation for the young team to put itself in front of. While we've had disappointing performances from the Blackhawks across the past two games, this season has brought us incredible performances from both goaltenders.

Last Weekend Doesn't Erase Solid Season

Despite their 7-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 7th, Soderblom put up a career-high 46 saves, facing a total of 53 shots on goal. While an .868 save percentage isn't ideal, he made some great stops to try and keep his team in the game while he still could - he had already racked up 16 saves on 17 shots by the end of the first. While the rest of the game didn't go as planned, he continued to make stops to try and stop the surging Ducks, facing 27 shots in the second period.

And while Spencer Knight's last game resulted in a 6-0 loss against the Los Angeles Kings - the most goals he's given up in a game all season - his previous game resulted in a 2-1 win against the same team. Even with the large loss, he's still battling it out on the stats sheet with the top goaltenders in the NHL - ranked in the top 10 according to HockeyReference on December 8th.

While the last two games haven't been their most stellar, this duo has been one of the best the team has seen in years. With Knight leading the charge with 20 games under his belt so far this season, he's helped the Blackhawks to win some extremely tight games, and has had his name thrown into the Olympic conversation by many, rightfully so. Soderblom has proven to be a good backup, having two 45+ save games so far this season. With the two of them working in tandem, it seems that the Hawks might have figured out their goalie pairing for the next two years, at least.

Trust Leads to Success

Brooke LoFurno recently interviewed both Knight and Soderblom about their relationship and how they've felt that their pairing has been working. Knight tells her:

"...we can bounce things off each other once in a while, which is nice. And to me, that’s the biggest thing as a goalie is, you want to have a good friendship. I think that carries over on the ice, because I think that’s the biggest thing is that it’s a unique position to have someone that understands the position, what it’s like. [It’s] very nice. Especially with a person like Sodie.”

It seems as though Soderblom feels similarly, responding in kind that he believes that a good goalie tandem will affect the team positively - to see them pushing one another and working together well will help create that trust. That trust has really shone this season despite the Blackhawks' current 2-6-2 record in their last 10 games, with close games against some of the best teams in the league and one of their best starts in years.

If Knight and Soderblom continue to build trust with one another and grow with the team in front of them, I believe this goaltending duo will take the Blackhawks far in the future.