The Chicago Blackhawks and Vegas Golden Knights faced off at the United Center for the final time this season. It was gearing up to be a fun one, as Vegas was looking to extend their four-game win streak, coming off a 5-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on March 25. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks were looking to get something rolling of their own by recalling defenseman Kevin Korchinski from the Rockford IceHogs and getting him in the lineup.
Chicago and Vegas’s last four meetings are tied 2-2, so there was no telling how this game would go. It was a back-and-forth game, but Vegas came away with a 5-3 win.
Game Recap
The first period was more defensive, and not much room was given to either side. The biggest story for half the period came from Frank Nazar, Pat Maroon, and Ivan Barbashev scoring chances. But it was Blackhawks’ leading goal scorer Ryan Donato who scored off a rebound from Vegas’ goaltender Adin Hill to make it 1-0 with three minutes left in the first. The shots ended 6-5, Chicago.
Artyom Levshunov took an interference penalty with 12 seconds left in the first period. Vegas’s power play carried over into the start of the second period, leading to a short-handed chance for Nazar and nada for the Knights. Seven minutes into the second period, Mikheyev had a breakaway opportunity denied. Seconds later, Mark Stone beat goalie Spencer Knight to tie the game 1-1. Victor Olofsson added another for Vegas a minute later, 2-1. It looked like Vegas might run away with things.
But the Golden Knights had a delayed penalty, and Donato scored his second of the game to tie 2-2. 15 seconds later, Donato scored his first career hat trick to give the Hawks the lead, 3-2.
But Chicago’s celebrations were short-lived in the third period. Vegas’ Olofsson scored his second of the game to make the score 3-3 three minutes in.
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Teuvo Teravainen took a hooking penalty, and Vegas’ Pavel Dorofeyev converted, 4-3, with three minutes left in the game. Brett Howden scored an empty net goal, and that’s all it took for Vegas to come away with the 5-3 win. Shots on goal were 22-21, Vegas.
What’s Next?
The Blackhawks actually had a lot of chances and breakaways in the game. The Golden Knights didn’t play their best game (by their standards), but they converted when they needed to, and that made the difference.
Even though the Blackhawks have lost nine of their last 10 games, they can build off of allowing less than 30 shots on goal for the fourth straight game, as they face the Utah Hockey Club on March 30. For the Golden Knights, they will look to continue rolling with their red-hot offense (4-plus goals scored in last five games) as they head to Nashville to face the Nashville Predators tomorrow (March 29).
