Home Is Where The Heart Is: Hawks Win 4-3!

The Chicago Blackhawks played their last home game of the season and rewarded their fans with a shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Tyler Johnson scored the only goal in the seven-round shootout, while Kevin Lankinen blanked all the Golden Knight shooters. The loss by Vegas officially eliminated the Knights from post-season action for the first time in their history. To rub it in further, the Dallas Stars did get the point they needed in their OT loss to Arizona, when they incredibly blew a 3-goal third period lead. The Hawks win sealed Vegas' fate anyways. Hey, the Hawks have won two in a row!

Takeaways:

• The Hawks got two goals from Taylor Raddysh, the second one with 2 seconds left in the first period, to take a 2-1 lead. It was Raddysh's 10th and 11th goals of the season and his first multiple goal game in his career. After the Knights tied it, Caleb Jones moved in from the point and fired a top corner shot from the slot to take the lead 3-2. It was the younger Jones's fifth goal of the season to equal brother, Seth. Vegas tied it again on a re-direction from Max Pacioretty. There was no scoring in the third or overtime periods.

• Kevin Lankinen played well, shutting the door in the shootout and OT, but he'll want back the second Vegas goal when he was beaten by a wrist shot from the point by Alec Martinez with no traffic in front of the net. It was a clean faceoff win directly to Martinez whose shot Lankinen should have had. The third goal was similar, a faceoff win, point shot, but it was deflected, so Lankinen little chance.
• Disappointing season for the Blackhawks, but it wasn't unexpected. We pretty much suspected they would miss the playoffs as early as November after their terrible start, so we had half the season to face the reality that this team will be going through a re-build. There was high expectations for the Vegas Golden Knights who many thought could challenge for the top of the Pacific or even the Western Conference, but a series of mis-steps, mis-calculations and key injuries did the Knights in. After making up ground on the Stars with a string of wins and an opportunity to close the gap, they lost some key games against the Oilers and Devils and lost valuable points in three shootout loses in a row this week. Wow, what a mess! (and this is coming from a Hawks fan!)

• Once again, the underrated, Sam Laffery had a strong game. He has been a bright spot since the Hawks acquired him from Pittsburgh for the underachieving, Alex Nylander. He set up both of Raddysh's goals and he's shown he can contribute with some offensive. It's his relentless fore-checking, using his speed and dogged determination that makes him stand out. The combination of Laffery and Raddysh are a good replacement for the skills of Brandon Hagel. Potentially another good trade by Kyle Davidson. You have to feel good for Tyler Johnson for scoring the shootout goal. His season has been mainly a write-off with his multiple injuries and inconsistent play, but the last month or so, he has played much more to his potential. He's playing with more confidence and it's positive that he's finishing the season strong. If he can stay healthy, he could be a valuable contributor next season.

Sam Laffery's "hockey smile" is attributed to those 3 teeth he lost inside the red circle, in a previous against the B's.

 

Up next: the final regular season game of the year for the Hawks on Friday night at 6:00 pm in Buffalo. Unfortunately, I have another engagement that night, so for the first time in a while I won't be watching the game live (in real time). I know it's no be deal, but I will watch it later that night or the next day, then we can discuss the playoffs, which sadly won't include the Blackhawks or the Winnipeg Jets...😞