Blackhawks win 4-3 in OT over Jets on milestone night

In their third contest of a seven-game homestand, the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, Oct. 15. Connor Bedard had returned in the previous contest, and Frank Nazar came back from his two-game suspension for this game. This gave the Blackhawks a strong forward lineup.

After an extremely choppy game and lots of excitement, the Blackhawks came out with their second consecutive win by a score of 4-3 in overtime. Let's get to the lineup decisions and game highlights.

Blackhawks Lineup & special teams

Roman Kantserov - Connor Bedard - Patrick Kane

Tyler Bertuzzi - Anton Frondell - Teuvo Teravainen

Ryan Donato - Frank Nazar - Oliver Moore

Cole Smith - Ryan Greene - Jordan Greenway

Ethan Del Mastro - Artyom Levshunov

Alex Vlasic - Ian Cole

Wyatt Kaiser - Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight/Arvid Soderblom

Scratches: Kevin Korchinski, Dominic Toninato, Bowen Byram (upper body), Andrew Mangiapane (lower body)

Frank Nazar drew back into the lineup after serving his two-game suspension for a hit to the head on New York Islanders’ Bo Horvat on Oct. 8. He centered the third line between Ryan Donato and Oliver Moore.

On defense, Bowen Byram is day-to-day with an upper body injury and did not play. Ethan Del Mastro drew in in his stead. Spencer Knight was in net for the second consecutive game.

Power play units

PP1: Bertuzzi Bedard-Kantserov-Kane Teräväinen

PP2: Donato Moore-Nazar-Frondell Rinzel

Penalty kill participants

Frondell, Teravainen, Vlasic, Cole, Smith, Kaiser, Greene, Levshunov, Nazar

Blackhawks Game Notes

• There were penalties galore to start this game, with the Blackhawks eventually winding up with a 5-on-3 advantage. It took numerous chances, but Connor Bedard finally got one past Jets netminder Stuart Skinner. It was Bedard's first goal of the season, & Patrick Kane's assist earned him the most assists by an American-born player in the NHL! Bertuzzi was credited with the secondary helper, which just happened to be his 200th career assist. Wow, what a historic goal!

• With just less than five minutes to go in the first, the Blackhawks struck again. Netminder Spencer Knight gave up a long rebound which bounced right onto Frank Nazar's stick. He corralled it and used his speed and finish to do the rest.

• Alas, the Jets got one back when Neal Pionk scored for Winnipeg. But never fear, the Donatorator is here! Ryan Donato got to work, outwaited his defender and went top shelf to make it 3-1 heading into the first intermission. Oliver Moore and Wyatt Kaiser provided the apples.

• In the second frame Ryan Greene was called for a tripping penalty. On the ensuing power play, Winnipeg's Kyle Connor went five-hole on Knight to cut the Blackhawks' lead to 3-2. Morgan Barron and Pionk was credited with the assists on the play.

• While the Blackhawks outshot the Jets 14-8 in the first period, they were outshot 13-5 in the second. They also gave up eight high danger chances. The Hawks were certainly more on their heels in the middle frame, but still held a 3-2 lead.

• The Jets tied the game 3-3 in the third. Alex Iafallo credited with the goal after a show from Pionk, although it didn't look like he touched it.

• There was a scary moment shortly thereafter when Blackhawk's defenseman Ethan Del Mastro drove the net and fell into Skinner. The Jets' goaltender wa down without moving for long time before shaking it off and continuing to play.

• Neither side was able to score through the rest of regulation, so the game headed to 3-on-3 overtime.

• At the 1:37 mark of overtime, Artyom Levshunov made the magic happen, scoring his first goal of the season to give the Blackhawks the win. He was assisted by Bedard and Kane. Arty is known for his boisterous celebrations, and he held nothing back on this one. He also knocked Kaner over. It was a special win for the Blackhawks, who have now won two games in a row.

• Finally, lost in all the crazy hoopla, Cole Smith’s celebrated his 300th NHL game on this night! It was definitely a night of many milestones for the Blackhawks.

Quotable Quotes

Postgame, Nazar couldn't say enough good things about his linemates Donato and Moore. This trio found a lot of chemistry and had a strong outing, combining for two of the Blackhawk's four goals. Said Nazar, "I thought those two guys were really good tonight, and I tried to chip in when I can. But I thought Dono was moving his feet, protecting the puck, making good plays. And same with Mooresy, right? He's skating and he's above everyone, and that frees other guys up around him, and he's winning battles, and that's the biggest part. So I thought those two guys were great."

Bedard was asked what it was like to help Kane make history, having the most assists by an American-born player in the NHL. "It's special. I wish I knew in the moment. You know, I was busy celebrating. That's, I mean, he's one of the best players that ever played the game, and to be included in a moment like that and get to score that for his confidence is pretty unbelievable. But I mean, how many apples is that? Like eight, 900, or whatever (it's 895). It's unbelievable, man. Just what he's able to do out there, and getting to see up close now, and play with him, and be on his team. See how he works off the ice, how dialed in he is to the game. I mean, he's 38. He's won three cups, and he's the most competitive guy you'll see. Wants to win more than anybody, and he's just he's just a special player, and you know he's a guy that'll never be forgotten."

In a funny moment, Kane was asked what it felt like to have Levshunov jumping on him when he was celebrating his overtime goal. Kaner laughed. "I was hoping nobody noticed me kind of backing off of him. But you see a truck like that coming in, obviously I'm not going to try and catch him, right? That'd be a bad decision. But I actually remember back in the day, (Brent) Seabrook scored an overtime winner against Nashville in the playoffs, and I tried to pick him up, and it wasn't happening. So a little bit of a flashback to that tonight."

Head coach Jeff Blashill agreed that this was a big win, and it was great to get an overtime win since they struggled in that area last season. "...we talked about last year, like we had a poor record once we got past regulation, and we need a better record than that. So this is a good step that way. I think the win's a big deal. I think confidence matters, and I thought there was parts of the game that we played really good in, parts of the game that we did a lot of things we want to do, and parts of the game that we hurt ourselves. And so there's lessons to be learned in it, but you'd rather learn those lessons while you win. That's just reality."

The Blackhawks have now improved to 3-5-0 in the standings. They will host the Dallas Stars on Saturday (Oct. 17), and they'll obviously be looking to add to their win column. Then they'll have five days off in between games before finishing out their homestand with matchups against the Montreal Canadiens (Friday, Oct. 23), the Florida Panthers (Oct. 25) and the L.A. Kings (Oct. 27).

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow