Soderblom leads Blackhawks to upset shootout win over Stars

Everything about tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars pointed against the Chicago Blackhawks. They traveled to Texas this morning and did not hold a morning skate. They are without their top two offensive players, their best defensive forward, and started their backup goaltender. On paper, they should have been blown out of the building.

But they don’t play the games on paper; they play them on the ice. The Blackhawks played a simple yet effective team game, got some scoring from their veteran leaders, and got numerous big saves by Arvid Soderblom. There was a little bit of luck, too, as the Stars hit five posts and Mikko Rantanen fumbled his shootout attempt. All of this combined to give the Blackhawks a huge 4-3 shootout victory, snapping their six-game losing streak.

‘‘We wanted to go to work and show the Stars it wasn’t going to be an easy night,’’ defenseman Alex Vlasic said. ‘‘And I felt like we did that.’’

Slaggert Does His Job

This morning, we got word that the Blackhawks recalled Landon Slaggert from the Rockford IceHogs before they boarded the plane for Dallas. We later learned that he made the trip because Ilya Mikheyev stayed in Chicago to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

In one of my many conversations with IceHogs general manager Mark Bernard, he told me that he tells every player who gets called up to make it difficult for the Blackhawks to send him back. Slaggert took that message to heart and got off to a great start. He won a board battle on his way to picking up the secondary assist on the game’s opening goal.

Shortly after the goal, Slaggert beat Thomas Harley off the boards and created two shots on goal, but could not solve Jake Oettinger. We saw some weaknesses in his game later in the opening frame when a defensive misread left Jason Robertson with a wide-open chance. Thankfully, the Stars’ leading goal scorer hit the post, one of two he hit during the first period.

Slaggert’s line with Dickinson and Bertuzzi was very effective, producing all three goals. Slaggert was off on a line change for Bertuzzi’s second goal, but the trio started the play by getting the puck in deep. The trio produced four scoring chances while allowing five, and were even in high-danger scoring chances at 2-2.

“I was trying to keep some continuity from the last game,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “I don’t like moving lines around every game. We tried to keep the Donato line the same, and we just took Mikheyev out and put another guy in who skates pretty well. He (Slaggert) and Micky aren’t exactly the same player, but he does bring energy, he does skate, he brings that line some speed, which I thought was important."

A for Arvid

Soderblom has had a disappointing season. Take away his starts against the Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings, and he’s looked more like the goaltender we saw in the 2023-24 season. However, he was spectacular against the second-highest scoring team in the NHL tonight.

Soderblom saved his best work for the third period, while the game was tied 2-2. Midway through the period, he made three big saves in a matter of seconds while Dallas was on the power play. He stopped Jamie Benn and Mikko Rantanen on breakaways during the frame.

Rantanen’s go-ahead goal was a tough break following a brutal turnover by Ryan Greene. The Blackhawks had a perfect response with Bertuzzi’s second goal 67 seconds later. He finished with 30 saves and only one goal in the four-round shootout. He faced 15 high-danger scoring chances on the night, but stood tall.

He did his best work while the Blackhawks were on the penalty kill, especially in the third period. He faced seven shots and six high-danger scoring chances in 2:41 of shorthanded time in the final frame and kept the puck out of his net. More efforts like this will instill more confidence in Soderblom from both the team and the fans.

Nuggets & Tidbids

• Artyom Levshunov had a nice game. He forced a turnover and was credited with the primary assist on Dickinson’s second-period goal. He had four shots on goal, six shot attempts, and had two individual scoring chances while playing 23:10, the second-highest ice time on the team. He was on the ice for Dallas’ second goal and made an aggressive play on Rantanen at the blue line. I don’t have a problem with that play. Had Bertuzzi picked up his guy, Justin Hryckowian wouldn’t have had the wide-open cage to shoot in.

• I’m not a fan of playing Nick Lardis on the fourth line with Dominic Toninato and Sam Lafferty, but it’s hard to argue with the results. Lardis scored his first NHL goal while on this line in Ottawa. Tonight, this trio was the best on the ice. At 5-on-5, they had a game-high 68.18 Corsi for percentage (CF%), holding a 15-7 advantage in shot attempts. They outshot the Stars 9-2, and led 7-5 in scoring chances and 4-3 in high-danger scoring chances. Laris capped off the night with the shootout winner.

• Bertuzzi’s game on the road this season has been quite impressive. He’s scored 14 of his 18 goals away from the United Center and has 21 points in 20 road games. His 31.1 road shooting percentage is insane. Maybe the Blackhawks should let him wear his white jersey for home games, too!

• We can’t leave without enjoying Ryan Donato’s shootout goal!