A two-goal effort from Ilya Mikheyev, a shorthanded goal from Frank Nazar and a 28-save performance from Spencer Knight helped the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Sunday, April 6.
The game was scoreless until the 18:55 mark of the second period, when the Blackhawks’ rookie centre Nazar scored his ninth goal of the season to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the third period, Mikheyev scored his 19th goal to make it 2-0, with Connor Bedard recording his 40th assist of the season on the play.
Five minutes later, Penguins’ forward Rickard Rakell scored on the power play, tying his career high with 34 goals on the season to cut the deficit to one.
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The Penguins would push in the dying minutes of the game, but Mikheyev scored his second goal of the game off an empty-netter with 56 seconds to go to seal the 3-1 victory for the Blackhawks.
Alex Nedeljkovic, who was playing his first game since March 27, stopped 28 shots in the losing effort.
The Blackhawks are now 22-45-10 with 54 points, last in the Central Division and the second-worst record in both the Western Conference and the entire league. Going into Sunday’s game, Chicago had lost five straight and 12 of their last 13 games.
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As for the Penguins, they are now 31-35-12 with 74 points, seventh in the Metropolitan Division and second last in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh has now lost five of their last seven games.
The two teams face each other again on Tuesday, April 8, this time in Pittsburgh. After that, the Blackhawks travel to Massachusetts to face the Boston Bruins on April 10, then host the Winnipeg Jets on April 12. Meanwhile, the Penguins go back on the road to face the New Jersey Devils, then host the Bruins.
