Blackhawks Learn From the Past to Win in Vegas

Nevada Day proved to be lucky for the visiting squad yesterday. The Blackhawks, despite a rough start going down 2-0 to the defending champions, battled back to hand the Golden Knights their first loss of the season.

This was a full team effort as 4 different goal scorers lit the lamp in Vegas (Donato, Raddysh, Bedard, and Kurashev) while the defense picked up the slack when an injury occured (Vlasic). Even starting goal tender Petr Mrazek, despite letting in a questionable goal or two, made the saves when it counted to net the win.

It is no secret, the Blackhawks have had a hard schedule to start the season and their record is reflective of said schedule. They've played the Stanley Cup winning Golden Knights and the defending President's Tropy winning Bruins both twice now in just 8 games. That's half of their season while adding in Pittsburgh, Montreal, Toronto, and Colorado all on the road and you'd be hard pressed to find a more difficult schedule across the landscape of the league.

Luckily this gauntlet may adjust itself into the Blackhawks favor as the season plays on. Tomorrow evening they face a much improved Coyotes team. I believe this will be a good test to see Chicago's fortitude in facing a team that is fairly equal to us (currently) in the talent department. Looking at the schedule further on though, it is not until December until I see a dip in competition. Will the young Hawks be battered and bruised with a record to show for it before then? That's still to be determined but the signs are clear: Luke Richardson and staff are going to have them ready and this is a roster that believes they can win any given night!