Fleury Dominant, Offense A No-Show As Blackhawks Fall To Stars In Shootout
Lukas Reichel was recalled before Friday night’s game against the Dallas Stars and immediately inserted into the starting lineup. Henrik Borgstrom and Alec Regula joined him in the lineup and Marc-André Fleury was between the pipes.
Eric Gustafsson, Brett Connolly and Josiah Slavin took a seat.
If you weren’t in your seat during the first period, you might have missed it. The Blackhawks out-shot the Stars 11-9 in a period that took 26 real-time minutes! There were only seven stoppages in the entire first period. Chicago was credited with nine blocked shots in the opening 20 minutes and both teams killed a penalty in the first.
Calvin de Haan took a seat inside the first two minutes of the second period but that penalty was killed off as well.
Fleury was stealing goals like kisses on Valentine’ Day. He had at least four highlight reel saves by the end of the second period with perhaps the most impressive coming inside the final five seconds of the period.
U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E pic.twitter.com/cz0w0mlw3p
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 19, 2022
The second period took a little longer than the first in real time, but the results were the same. Chicago out-shot Dallas 11-9 again in the second. Neither team scored and both had a power play in the frame.
Through two periods, Reichel had one shot on net and had won three of four faceoffs; Kirby Dach, meanwhile, had only taken — and lost — one faceoff. Sam Lafferty was taking draws on Dach’s line; he won four of eight in the opening 40 minutes.
The Stars out-shot the Blackhawks 9-7 in the third period. Chicago had to kill a penalty in the third, but they did that. And, once again, neither team scored.
So we went to overtime.
In the bonus session, Dallas out-shot the Hawks 5-2… but neither team scored. Again. And — again — Fleury was magnificent. He stopped all 29 shots he faced in regulation and overtime.
So we went to the skills competition to decide the game. Jason Robertson and Alex DeBrincat scored in the first round of the shootout but then neither side was able to score until the sixth round, where Jacob Peterson won the game. Unfortunately, Fleury’s terrific night was wasted on a shutout loss.
Reichel skated 17:41 with two shots on net and one takeaway while winning four of seven faceoffs. He was called on third in the shootout by coach Derek King, but couldn’t convert.
Regula had one hit and two takeaways in 11:54. Both rookies saw action on the power play (Reichel 29 seconds, Regula 33).
Hawks cruising around , mediocre, poor , not worth the 25 buck admission ! It reminds me of the turn of the century when it was a turn style club where the players came in from the east and stepped out to the west ! A lot of nights they’re not worth the price of admission which is 25 bucks ! Just going for a skate ! Which I’m doing with my Grandson tomorrow in Guelph Ontario with a couple of guys that played for the Hawks ! The Hawks are a joke again , POPS 4
Outside of Fleury’s amazing saves, this game was right up there with watching paint dry. Don’t mind what King did with Reichel in the shootout. Except for one nice pass thou and some faceoff wins, I just don’t think he’s ready yet for the NHL. He goes down like a bowling pin. I bet Fleury can’t wait to get the heck out of here. Could the Organization make one decision finally?? Hire Chris Vosters and stick Cohen in the radio booth so I don’t have to hear him anymore. I just can’t handle the nasal twang anymore.
McCabe in shoot out ?
Really .
Their was not another forward available so ,,, McCabe …..
Reichel hopefully will go back to Rockford for very important games coming .
Hogs need to go to playoff. So send him back tomorrow morning.
This game was okay. Just…okay. The shootout was odd. McCabe. I’m sure everyone in the hockey world said the same thing. Dach, Strome, Hagel, Entwistle…nope. McCabe. Is this an indictment of the aforementioned forwards or is this just King showing that he’s out of his depth? Entwistle, Dach, and Kubalik had 0 SOG…that’s ZERO. So…now Dach is useless at center and, apparently, he can’t shoot the puck. I still hold out hope that, if he’s put on the RW, he may be able to focus and excel. Kubalik? He’s gone cold…again. Entwistle and Borgstrom were the only two forwards under 10 minutes. I could include Lafferty, but he’s not a top 6 guy. That’s not his game. Hagel is not a top 6 guy either…but he gets top 6 minutes. Kane and DeBrincat had 4 and 7 SOG respectively. They had over 20 minutes TOI. Hagel had 1 SOG with 21:54 TOI.
The defense was shooting that puck like nobody’s business. Except for C.Jones and A.Regula. Honestly, though, I expected Regula to concentrate on defense more than his offense. He did very well.
MAF? He’s a HOF goalie. He proves it more often than not.
I think, like so many on here, I just want to see real movement from the front office. Get a real team president, a real GM and a real HC. The TDL is coming. If they go into it with the front office as is…it will be anybody’s guess on what and how the team will benefit…if at all.
I’m trying to be positive…but seeing the same ol’ same ol’ is just so frustrating. Next game.
Completely missed this game – forgot they were playing – that’s what become of this season
when I saw that stone hands McCabe took the last shootout attempt instead of Strome especially but even Hagel or Dach I know that King is just trolling Hawk fans – no rational coach’ would do that – would they?
As the 20-21 season went along, I felt like we were making progress. We had unknown players stepping into the NHL and getting their feet wet, playing games and gaining confidence. Yeah, the team was crazy streaky and everyone was focused on getting JC and Bowman out of town, but we were developing hockey players. Lankinen stepped up and showed he belonged. Suter firmed up his skates and looked like he could become a 2nd or 3rd line center in the NHL. Dcat began playing both ends of the ice. We were introduced to Hagel. We had a few kid Dmen shows flashes of belonging, or at least the hope that in a few years we could have some players. The record sucked, but we made progress. Clear progress.
This year, we brought in some vets to shore up our weaknesses and got our Captain back. He struggled to get going, mightily. Injuries hit the team. The vets we brought in saw a lot of casualties. Including the captain. Kane turned into a joke on skates, either damaged goods or uninterested, or both. We got rid of the JC and Bowman leadership. And here we are. A hot mess. Sizzling nightly. Using a defensive Dman in a shoot out. Wow.
Oh – and I don’t see any improvement. Discount Fleury. He didn’t belong here anyway. Looks like MAF this year will prove the old saying: Nice guys finish last.
I learned a long time ago as a fan in Chicago – WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR. And how many times did we find next year worse than last year???
Biggest problem on this team is the lack of offense other than Kane (who allegedly sucks or something) and debrincat. Jones has points just based on so many minutes played, hard for any player in the league to play so many minutes and not get points.
It’s easy to blame the defense because fleury has been so good. Even still such a thin offense has teams easily shutting down kane and debrincat .
Fleury is gonna help the Oilers win a cup !
One power play goal all it woulda took. MAF outstanding, very good defensive effort against a pretty good team. Reichel looked good out there, needs to bulk up as others mentioned.
Craig, good to see your back, hearing anything on any young prospects they like, try acquire or if they move into 1st round at tdl who they like in draft.
Regula / Galvas/ Mitchell and Boqvist ( oh- I forgot Bowman went all in ) not Boqvist
are all better and cheaper than what Hawks skate on D right now… they will make some mistakes for sure… but D side … especially w / Giants – Crevier, Vlasic, DelMastro, and non Giant Kaiser – future looks positve.
As some one else mentioned few days ago– New GM- Need to concentrate on Forwards next 2 drafts and UFAs.
Bowman- reaalllyyy – crapped the bed with this “all-in” … put the Hawks back 2-3 years at least
It’s easy to forget they are playing some nights. This team needs some good news. Perhaps a couple of draft picks will help-But the Wirtz family needs to wake up and set the right course for the franchise.
Fleury said to his team-I know we aren’t very good, but I’m going to get us a point or two.
All good things end, and this includes the Kane-Toews era. This team isn’t good enough and at their ages they can’t help this team be better enough. Time to move on. I hope 19 retires, he deserves it.
Silent Spot: Are you really trying to say that because of firing the leadership of Kid Coach and StanBo that we are in the mess we are today?? I hope I mistook that because you seem smarter than that. Yes, last year it appeared there was some progress in developing some players, but then StanBo knocked that right out of the park by going for it this year. The veteran’s brought in here were not to shore up weaknesses (we had plenty) but they were brought in because StanBo felt he had the team now to contend. Your right that MAF shouldn’t have been here, neither should have S Jones, C Jones or McCabe. Could have waited one more year to settle out the cap space, let the youngsters progress and then get a real coach and dump that horrible defensive system. But no, StanBo thought he had the horses to make a run for it (or was he pressured from above to create excitement and to keep the beer flowing???) Also, to say that Kane has turned into a joke on skates is truly way out of bounds. Yes, there’s probably something wrong with him (injury, disinterested, call it what you want) but I don’t know of many jokes on skates that average a point a night. Why is he still playing?? I don’t know could be he’s a proud athlete that wants to compete or he’s only one of couple of guys that fans will pay $$ to see here. IDK. If you had a problem with McCabe in the shootout, why don’t you have a problem with a 19 year old kid just called up from Rockford?? Why does it matter?? Remember King wasn’t supposed to be here either, he was supposed to be grooming kids in Rockford. Yes, its wait until next year for this club, and the next 2 after that. Hopefully whenever the new GM gets hired(hopefully not the “intern”) we can get a new vision in here and straighten this mess that was left by STAN BOWMAN.
Noonan
Agree about Toews and I think the Hawks should get him a job in the organization
MAF What a player and a gentleman who deserve to get to a team who need him to get a Stanley cup.
With that easy decision that King didn’t take it could mean a short live for him with the Hawks .with the options to take a guy like Entwhistle is missed and you put McCabe instead shows that the 1 pt more is not important.It looks like nothing but it’s a bad decision and Crawford just look at it . Your gone guys …bye bye
I want D’arche for GM or Roy . Then things will move on .
SS, I don’t think Bowman and Colliton not being around is the issue, it’s how they are replacing them that is. That is nothing against King or KD but as looks like this more of a cost cutting endeavor than anything. Colliton replaced for the year by promoting King on an interim basis and ditto in Rfd. McDonough, Bowman and MacIsaac replaced by Danny Wirtz running business end and KD looking after Hockey end of his own job plus the vacancies. I’m sure others have increased their responsibilities too but KD running things. Certainly saved spending alot on the off ice end of things. How much are the losses from covid and court settlements going to affect the onice decisions is a big question mark too.
Ian: Great points. I hope they do the right thing without $$ being the issue on their decisions with getting a real GM in here.
No Hammer. I was in the camp that was against the moves made by Bowman to go for it this year. I think he got greedy when MAF fell at his feet for free. Yes, we were too early in the bid for Jones, and paid too much. We needed high quality picks before we needed Jones. But there is little doubt in my mind that both JC and Bowman needed to go. It was inevitable and necessary.
I understand what Bowman was trying to do. I just didn’t like or agree with it because it seemed obvious we didn’t have enough talent and were just getting out of salary cap hell. Why tie your hands again and grab a couple band aides? I was clear about that here, but wasn’t asked by Bowman!
Kane is an uninterested hockey player right now. Immense talent. Legendary. HOF first ballot. If he is indeed hurt (reports say he is), then maybe he should try to get it fixed. I don’t know the injury or prognosis. Maybe it can’t be fixed. The decline in quality of his play is substantial. His effort is clearly not where you want a leader of THIS team to be. I respect what he has accomplished, but he is a mere shadow of what he was. I wish him well, but if his decline is permanent and will continue at the pace it has the past couple of years, then I think a proud athlete would look to retire or find a better fit of a team for himself. We need him to carry this team, and it isn’t in him to do it right now. Statistics be damned. The eye test is real. He has a lot of miles on him. Tough miles. High level miles. But like Seabrook, Keith, Hammer, Toews and Crawford – those miles have taken a toll. We (and they) benefited from those miles. I’m happy to have been a paying passenger on the ride. He fits better on a team where he can be allowed to coast and carried by other skilled players. I personally think that is not here.
Ian – I called for JC to be fired a couple years ago after he clearly had lost the locker room. I also called for players (particularly the veteran hold-overs from Q time) to be held accountable for throwing him under the bus with half-assed efforts nights in and out. But Bowman was hard-headed and JC spineless. It was pretty clear the problem, and JC wasn’t the answer.
Toews a job within the Organization ?? Lol…..lol….ya
As for Reichal, he was beyond horrible , a wallflower just skating around, weak as a little German girl, did not lol very interested in the game, send him back to Rockford.
Former Blackhawks Marko Dano and Tomas Jurco just helped Slovakia win their 1st ever olympic medal in Men’s hockey with a win over Sweden in Bronze medal game. Pretty excited bunch after the game.
As I said Thursday, Kane played nearly 25 minutes and yesterday it showed. He looked like he had no git go from the beginning and no interest as the game continued. His 4 sog all hit Oettinger in the crest. BTW we could’ve had Oettinger but we traded that pick for Beuadin if I remember correctly.
Reichel looked ordinary, but that’s OK. Regula actually was able to make tape to tape passes, looking at you Murphy, McCabe, deHaan.
Anyways, seeing that you can get a ticket and 2 beers is real entertainment
And can we just get rid of Cohen already, I’m scratching my head as to why he is even here announcing games or doing intermission punditry, he’s just super annoying.
Thanks Ian. The Hawks are really high on Crevier. They also love what Landon Slaggert brings.
Despite what the beat writers say Beaudin is not really in the prospect mix anymore.
Unlike Ian Mitchell who has taken the ball and run with it.
I haven’t poked around about the draft because we don’t have a first rounder.
However that will hopefully change when Fleury gets dealt.
GM search down to a few. I’m hoping for Darsche.
Oh look I spilled my milk! Milk is all over the place! The carton is missing a full glass now. It’s dripping off the table and now on the floor! Look at all the milk gone!
That is what I think I keep reading here. Let’s look for ways to clean up the milk instead of who spilled it.
Edmonton has to be watching MAF’s play. KD or someone should be sending Holland tape of this game. Get a #1, Koskinen and Lavoie. Eat the $2.5 mil to make it work. Whisper in Puljujarvi’s ear that it will always be McDavid and Draisaitl’s and Nurse’s team. He can make the Hawks his and DCat’s team. Send deHaan and eat half plus the other mil on MAF’s money. Now we got a #1pick, an NHL winger and goalie and a 6″4′ 200lb right shot rw/c prospect.
Crevier- will be a player in NHL
$$BILL- I agree – 1st time I have seen Riechel- look very average- he has always impressed me in past.
Regula- Thought was very strong– and the kid has that High Hockey ass– like Jagr’s Mountain of an ass.
People seemed to bounce off of it… and hard to get around – if u know how to use it… in small sample… kid looks like he knows how to use it.
I have tried watching and liking Slaggert… few periods here and there… Never really been impressed with him. Seems like Rob Carpenter type- Carp is a great 4th line player on a very solid team… BUT- if he plays on average or bad team (see Hawks)- Carp – just doesn’t cut it… not a knock on him- more of a knock on team in general… but I like Carp on 2010 Hawks
@Bluto
I haven’t seen Slaggert play but the Stan/Hawk PR machine has always been
out in force about him…..maybe it’s the ND connection thing.
Good news on Crevier, that would be a plus.
Carpenter wouldn’t have made the 2010 team. Everyone on the 4th line and
even the pressbox guys could all score. That was the best Hawk team IMHO
Kane is not right and should be sat down for the remainder of the season and have whatever ails him fixed. It is obscene to skate him over 22 min. They are wearing him out for no reason. The season is a waste and should be used to evaluate the prospects. Get Kane rested and fixed up for next season. Play all the your forwards, bring up the young d-men and see what you have. Do we really need to see more Gussy, McCabe, or Caleb? Not embracing the rebuild only add time to the suckage.
So,it’s.McCabe in a shootout???? Imagine being Hagel,Entwistle, Dach or anybody else as McCabe skates out for his shootout appearance. Maybe Interim Kong was sending a message to some lethargic and unproductive forwards? Did Dach even play last night? Looks like the Canada scouts who questioned his off ice activities and motivation may have been correct. I knew in his rookie season when Tkachuk punched him in the face and dropped him with no response that we were in trouble. Get ready for a Panther matinee !
After the TDL is when all the future skates and the veteran future skates minute minutes. The only possible reason the Gus, deHaan etc etc are skating is to showcase. If it continues after TDL then Houston we have a problem.
cant wait for the hawks to bring back “show your college/high school ID” to get half off tickets!!
Silent Spot: My bad, sorry for the accusation. Just wondering where you were coming from. What I think about Kane is (no idea if he’s injured, disinterested or whatever) he’s been keyed on all year from the opposition with relatively no support offensively outside of the Cat, he’s tried to get others involved in the offense and we just don’t have it. He’s still playing, he’s still producing (Yeah he’s not burying the net) and people pay to see him on the ice. I’m betting if we got some more talent here, his numbers would be back to Kane-like. Once MAF leaves (certainly expecting it but I’m just not sure yet he’s going anywhere) you think it’s bad now, just wait, it’s going to get really bad here. But it has to be done.
Jamie Benn’s squirting the water bottle at Enstwhistle cost him a cool $5K today. LOL!!!
Crevier already on an elc will definitely be in Rfd. next season as his junior eligibility up this season. Allen and C. Dach are signed too, but either they make Nhl roster or go back to juniors for another year. Allen a possibility to join Rfd. for playoffs as his junior team won’t be playoff bound unlike other 2. Del Mastro another candidate to join Rfd. for playoffs, likely on an ATO, probably sign his elc in off season or fall so he can collect signing bonus and go back to juniors for another year and slide his contract.
Wonder what Ncaa players will do, Vlassic just finishing his junior year most likely to sign. Kaiser with 3 years Ncaa eligibilty left and doesn’t need signed until 2024, plays another year or 2 before signing. Commesso and Slaggert with 2 years eligibilty left are possibilities to sign too, but could easily wait a year. Wise having a good year in Ohio after struggling with both on ice, plus injuries for 3 years at BU, becomes a ufa in August if not signed, might have done enough for an elc.
Hopefully Slaggart and C. Dach can help provide some middle 6 winger depth in a year or 2.
By the way King managed the OT and SO it makes me wonder if the organization wants to win. And getting tired of him saying the team wasn’t ready to play, isn’t that his job?
Craig my hope right now is for Darche to be hired as Gm and he brings Zettler with him to be head coach.
Hammer I think you and I are more in sync than out of sync with regards to the path going forward with the Hawks. I’ve nodded plenty of times to your posts about personnel choices.
I remember a point last year when Kane got embarrassed for not covering his guy in OT with the Strome switch/non-switch, and shortly after really kicked his defense into gear. Simultaneously, as is usual, his offense perked up and he became a beast and carried the team on a streak. I think it was one of the Florida teams that started targeting him for hits and he didn’t like the physical attention, and after a few games of subsequently getting knocked around he disappeared on the ice, back to his more familiar offense only approach. The team fell off of his back and streaked down. Shortly after that the rumors started of an injury. He has had tiny spurts of energy on the ice ever since.
I don’t know what we do with the Tyler Johnson contract. He was given an opportunity on the PP and top 2 lines at the start of the year. Fair to say it didn’t go well, even when the PP was going well. We wasted Lankinen’s chance to show his growth after playing plenty of games the previous season. Delia and Soderblom are not ready to take the helm. Dach isn’t showing the progress anyone here would like. We needed Stillman to get a solid year of growth and maturity. Can anyone really see King being an answer rather than being a question? I don’t know…. This year hasn’t gone very well. Maybe the next 30 games will at least shine a few bright spots about the future.
I don’t believe Edmonton will pay up for Fleury. Holland already stated that, and I doubt he wants to go back on those words. At this point, I think we will likely settle for a 2nd rounder and midlevel prospect. DeHaan even less. I’d prefer they stack the pick pile for 2023, but waiting another year will be painful. We would need to aim for a top 5 pick in 2023, and a couple other 1st rounders.
We really need a big draft this year and next.
SS, T. Johnson played 8 games before went on ir, never had a chance to get used to team. Colliton ill advised i would say through him right out as C between Cat and Kane hoping he could make them have career years or close to that offensively like last year. He’s a career 50% guy on fos, put him on a line with Dach and Kurashev or somebody, let him take the bulk of fos, wing or C doesn’t really matter, think he can be a bonus if used properly.
Soderblom will still be a very good goalie not letting one game decide that won’t happen. If it means bringing in a vet next year again so be it, but not convinced it will be yet. Glen Sather talks about going to draft and asking his chief scout, forget who that was right now, who he should draft. He told him Grant Fuhr, Sather said i’m not drafting him, saw him at world juniors and was terrible, went to one of his league games and the coach pulled him after 1st, no way was he drafting him now who should I draft. His scout said you saw him twice i saw him hindreds of times draft Grant Fuhr. We know how that worked out.
As far as Kane, i’m going to wait to see what he has to say at end of season and find out his take on things before forming any opinions on him.
I read (can’t remember where) Kane’s possible surgery has very long recovery and very mixed success. So I figure, if true, he won’t get any surgery and just do his best.
Bob- if that’s true… certainly points to HIP labrum or Shoulder… Both take long to recover from… I am leaning toward HIP- cuz I have 1st hand knowledge of Hip surgery… I opted for Total Hip Replacement – cuz Labrum repair– actually take longer to recover AND only last a short time ( for the older and more active).
I believe Seabrook- when he finally retired had both HIPS done or at least one… probably played last few year w/ those issues… which explains a lot about his struggles w mobility last couple years.
Kane still has elite hands/vision… but he does not have the jitter bug stop and go he used to.
b
Ian I don’t think I said Soderblom would never be a good goalie. I’m aware that typically goalies develop later, thus my belief there was a lot Lankinen had left to show this year. I feel Soderblom isn’t ready to take on a full-time goalie position at the NHL level. He didn’t look comfortable at all for the entire game the other night, and yes it is a small sample. Yet another reason Fleury needs to be gone Pronto. Ron Hextall refused to give in to management pushing for Carter Hart ( I believe) to be brought up and it cost him his job. Hetalia said that bringing a kid up and playing him every 10 days is a disservice (paraphrased). He was a firm believer in developing in AHL and then coming up to take the reigns when ready. Cutting teeth for goalies shouldn’t be done at the NHL level. Hey, the kid got a game and didn’t play well. I suspect he will be back and likely more prepared. I wish him well. He’s still very green and can have a big impact for the team. He likely will recover. Time will tell. I’m a patient fan.
Wait until next year.
Previous post of Hetalia should be Hextall.
SS, sorry if I took your words out of context. The Philly comparison fits pretty good with where this team is. Interesting to see what Hextall and Burke do with the Pens. His refusal to bring up Hart may have been the final straw but the empty seats in the arena after giving him 5 years on the job that was ultimately why his Flyers bosses lost patience. We are all guilty i guess of the same things here don’t rush their development but why weren’t they brought up yesterday to play regular. The Flyers have many times over the years traded off their vets and attempted to rebuild without much success, unfortunately about all total rebuilds guarantee are low payrolls in alot of instances. Hart after a dip in numbers last season is putting up some good numbers on a non playoff team, was projected to be Canada’s starting goalie at olympics if nhlers went, unless Price was back to form which didn’t happen. Seems Hart looks to be doing ok, the Flyers not so much. Hopefully the trades at tdl/off season and draft picks help address some needs most noticeably with top 6 forward core over next few years.
Another non coaching move. Camera even caught him as not caring. 4 seconds left and you need to win a draw to get a shot off and you send Dach out to take the draw.