Blackhawks recover to earn a point against the Jets

“A full 60” is a term you hear a lot in hockey, especially out of the Chicago Blackhawks lineup. Tonight was a good example of why this young group has to put together three straight periods in order to win. It was the second period that ultimately cost them in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

The Blackhawks played a fantastic opening period. They took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after not allowing a single high-danger scoring chance. This was the most impressive stat of the opening frame, considering they gave up 26 to the .

Unfortunately, they didn’t carry that over into the middle stanza. The Jets had 10 shots on goal and three goals before the Blackhawks got their first shot on goal. They only had four shot attempts at 5-on-5 for the entire period. However, they flipped the script, holding the Jets to just four 5-on-5 shot attempts in the third and forcing overtime.

“I was really happy with our guys,” said head coach Jeff Blashill. “We came out in the first and were really, really good. The second wasn’t good enough. We got into our D-zone too much and gave up too many chances. I think they answered unreal. That’s a great testament to our group.”

Frondell’s Home Debut

Only one of the two recent additions, Anton Frondell, played his first home game tonight. Sacha Boisvert will have to wait until next week after being a healthy scratch. Frondell has had a very impressive start to his NHL career with four assists in his first four games, including two on Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils. Hopefully, you didn’t order a No.15 jersey because he switched to 16 as a nod to his former Djurgardens teammate and former Blackhawk, Marcus Kruger.

It didn’t Frondell to give his new fans something to cheer about, as he scored his first career NHL goal on his second shift of the game. He finished off an extended offensive-zone shift where he and his linemates were in hard on the forecheck. Ilya Mikheyev made a nice play to sweep the puck into the slot, where Frondell was waiting to slam it home from one knee.

The second line dominated the opening period, with an 8-1 advantage in shot attempts, 5-0 in shots on goal, and 3-1 in scoring chances. Blashill said this is a line that “gets it” in terms of how they want to play with each other. They led the way with three goals, 13 shot attempts, eight shots on goal, and six scoring chances.

Frondell finished his first game at the United Center with three shots on goal, six shot attempts, a hit, and a blocked shot.

"Incredible,” Frondell said of his experience. “Back on the road trip, when we played in Madison Square Garden and different arenas, I thought, 'Oh $%&*, this is pretty good.' But they said, 'Wait till you get back at home.' I know what they mean by that now. It's a pretty good crowd here."

Top Line Struggles

Connor Bedard has loved playing the Jets in his young career. In nine games, he has five goals and 11 points. He scored his first career overtime goal against them during his rookie season. He entered tonight’s game on a five-game point streak versus Winnipeg, with two goals and eight points. Three of his last four games have been multi-point performances. He’s done most of his damage at the United Center, with four goals and six points.

However, his line with Ryan Greene and Nick Lardis was rather ineffective. Bedard set up both his linemates for scoring chances in the opening period, but neither could convert. The line had only three shot attempts at 5-on-5, which is not good enough. Bedard had only one shot attempt, which did not make it on goal.

They spent most of the night playing against Mark Schiefele and the Jets’ top line. While their stat line is not good, it is impressive that the Blackhawks scored three goals and earned a point in a game in which Bedard was shut down.

Toews Remembers Troy

Tonight was the first game for Jonathan Toews in Chicago since the passing of Troy Murray. The former Blackhawks captain spent his career here around Murray, getting advice, sharing laughs, and becoming friends. He took some time after today’s morning skate to talk about him with .

"Troy was someone I looked up to,” he said. “Obviously, I didn't grow up watching a ton of his games as a kid, but getting to know him and who he was as a person, as a player throughout his career. He's the kind of guy who made it special to play for the Hawks, for the Jets, obviously.”

Toews and Murray’s career paths were very similar. They went to the same college, wore the same numbers, and both won the Selke Trophy for being the NHL’s best defensive forward.

“In a lot of ways, he wore No. 19, he played at North Dakota, and played for the Jets as well. It's just cool in a lot of ways to follow in his footsteps and honor him. He meant a lot to me over my career."

If this was Toews’ final game at the United Center, it won’t be his most memorable contest. He had two shots on goal and a hit in his 15:45 of ice time.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Frondell got his first taste of 3-on-3 NHL overtime hockey, and it didn’t go great for him. He started the extra time with Bedard and Wyatt Kaiser. They lost the opening faceoff, then he lost a step on Kyle Connor, and that was all he needed to bury his 34th goal of the season just 32 seconds into overtime.

"We haven't been good enough 3-on-3. That’s frustrating for you guys, frustrating for me, frustrating for the players. But the process we had through lots of that game was really good."

Jeff Blashill

• For the second straight game, the Blackhawks got an extended 5-on-3 power play in the third period. Unlike in New Jersey, when they scored, they failed tonight on the two-man advantage. They were far too passive, looking for the perfect shot instead of just firing the puck towards the net. They had just one shot on goal in 1:03 of 5-on-3 time. Scoring there would have been the difference between one and two points.

• We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Bertuzzi’s insane goal late in the second period. He credited Mikheyev for getting in on the forecheck, which allowed him to get off this beautiful spinning shot. His second goal of the night, scored from right in front of the net, gave him a new career-high of 31.

• Mikheyev’s two assists were the 100th and 101st of his NHL career.

• Finally, the Blackhawks hosted a crew of Olympic gold medalists, including women’s hockey here and Chicagoland native, Abbey Murphy.