Chicago Blackhawks fans will remember the film, 17 Seconds that chronicled the Hawks Stanley Cup win in 2013 against the Boston Bruins. In game six of the finals, the Bruins led game six, 2-1 with 76 seconds left in the third period. The Hawks pulled goalie, Corey Crawford hoping to score the equalizer goal, but what followed is known as the "greatest 17 seconds in Chicago sports history. The Blackhawks scored two goals in 17 seconds to not only tie the game, but the go-ahead goal that stood as the Stanley Cup winning goal. This goal will be forever associated with the Boston Bruins and though it didn't have the same important significance of a cup winning goal, the 17 seconds was reversed tonight. The Bruins broke a 3-3 tie with a goal from David Pastrnak with 17 seconds left in the third period to beat the Hawks 4-3.
Takeaways:
- Chicago played a pretty solid road game, keeping the Bruins at bay 5 on 5 and defensively played well. Alec Regula was steady and didn't look out of place with about 12 minutes of ice time, while the top 4 (Jones, Murphy, McCabe and de Haan) each played over 20 minutes. It took a fluky, lucky bounce to produce the game winner and as Colby Cohen pointed out on the broadcast, a missed call on the previous face-off (before the icing) where the puck was gloved by the Bruins, Eric Haula near the face-off dot, which should have been a penalty. Bad luck and a heartbreaking loss!
- The power-play produced goals for both teams, the Bruins finished 2/3, while the Hawks were 1/3. The Hawks had two man advantages in the first period and the referees pulled the usual "even up" plan of issuing the next three penalties against the Hawks. This was costly as the Bruins scored twice on those power-plays, a team that is ranked 7th in league. The takeaway is stay out of the penalty box! The Hawks did get a power-play goal in the third from Hagel to tie the game at three.
- Alex DeBrincat remains hot, he scored his 34th goal of the year putting him 6th in the league for goals and he's scored in his last 4 games. With Patrick Kane's assist on the goal, he has 12 points in his last 5 games.
- Brandon Hagel continues to be a force, scoring his 19th and 20th goals of the season. His first goal was a beauty, using his speed to score on a wraparound. Hagel's tireless effort is attracting the attention of contending teams and there's reports of teams offering a 1st rounder and more (?). As a late round draft pick he has exceeded all expectations and to trade this underdog will be a disappointment. He personifies the type of player the Blackhawks sorely need more of, an important player to build around. He's the hardest worker on the team and finally his effort is being rewarded this season contributing significantly to the offensive. I'm definitely on Team Hagel!
- Kevin Lankinen played well and made some huge saves to keep the score even in the third. If it wasn't for the late goal, he could have been a star. In his last six starts, he has given up 4 or more goals and has won only one game since November. It's not that he's played badly, it's more a combination of tough luck and unfortunate bounces.
Up next: Hawks travel to Canada, more specifically in Ottawa for a Saturday night game against the Sens for a 6:00 pm CST start.
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