Say this for the Blackhawks, in what truly has been a miserable season, they still have managed to keep games interesting.
Just seconds away from gaining their first point on foreign ice since Nov. 20, the Hawks watched it all come apart in a 4-2 loss to Minnesota in which the Wild scored the quickest two goals in NHL history with 15.5 seconds left in the game.
The loss was the 16th in a row on the road, tying a team record set in 1954. The way the Hawks are playing on the road this season–they have the worst record in the NHL–they can shatter that mark by the All-Star break.
The Hawks begin a six-game trip Saturday in Columbus.
The winning goal came at the 19-minute-44-second mark after a crazy sequence in the Hawks’ end.
Minnesota had a three-on-two rush and Hawks goaltender Craig Anderson lost his stick on the initial shot. Jim Dowd fired a second shot, which Anderson stopped without his stick, but Deron Quint failed to clear the puck. Tyler Arnason let Dowd get his own rebound and beat Anderson–still without his stick–for the game-winner.
“[The stick] was at my feet and the guy was already shooting,” Anderson said. “I just worried about the shot first and my stick second.”
Three seconds after Dowd’s goal, Richard Park scored an empty-netter off a faceoff. Five teams shared the previous record of four seconds between goals.
Anderson is 0-8 this season and still looking for his first career NHL victory.
“On any given night you can win or lose,” Anderson said. “It just so happens that every night I’ve played, I’ve lost. I’m going to do whatever I can to change that.”
Minnesota grabbed a two-goal lead with a pair in the second period.
On the first–with the Hawks on a power play–the Wild had the Hawks pinned in their own end for about 30 seconds before Pascal Dupuis, alone in the slot, beat Anderson.
The goal came three seconds after a Wild penalty, officially saving the Hawks from what would have been the 10th short-handed goal against them.
Minnesota made it 2-0 on a giveaway by defenseman Bryan Berard behind the Hawks’ net. Antti Laaksonen found Park for the first of his two goals.
Berard–on the ice for two goals-against Wednesday–is now minus-16 in just 24 games this season. In his second NHL season with the New York Islanders, Berard was minus-32 in 75 games. At his current pace, Berard will be minus-35 in just 55 games.
The Hawks climbed back into it late in the second with a goal from Arnason–his third in two games here. Nathan Dempsey tied it midway through the third.
As has been the case all season, though, disaster was lurking right around the corner.
“It just seems to be going that way,” Hawks winger Steve Sullivan said. “We don’t seem to be able to recuperate from a mistake in our own end. The puck just seems to jump to the back of the net.”
