You could argue the Chicago Blackhawks deserved to win the first meeting against the Boston Bruins last Thursday but were robbed by an unlucky bounce off Hawks center Ryan Carpenter’s skate to a waiting David Pastrnák.
On Tuesday night, they had a chance to steal a game they probably deserved to lose, but they sealed their fate with a critical error.
Pastrnák was the linchpin again in the Hawks’ 2-1 overtime loss at the United Center.
Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat closed on Pastrnák, who backhanded a pass to a wide-open Taylor Hall. Hall had Caleb Jones at his mercy in a two-on-one with Matt Grzelcyk, who finished off the Hawks on a one-timer Hall set up.
It was a waste of a masterful performance by Hawks goalie Marc-André Fleury, who made 46 saves, as well as a third-period redirect goal by Brandon Hagel to keep the Hawks alive.
“It’s tough because he’s fought so hard for us all year,” Hagel said of Fleury. “He stood on his head tonight and made some unbelievable saves. … He’s deserved many wins this year from us that we weren’t able to get for him.”
The Bruins outshot the Hawks 48-20.
“We didn’t have a lot of action at the net tonight,” Jones said.
Added coach Derek King: “First game against Boston, I think we deserved better. Just the way it went. Tonight, I think they deserved better.
“(Fleury) made some saves, we caught a break on the goal against (that was ruled goaltender interference), Hages gets a nice, hardworking goal. It’s too bad the overtime went the way it went, the finish.
“But I liked the way we battled. We hung in there.”
Here are three takeaways.
1. If this was Marc-André Fleury’s swan song in Chicago, he made it a memorable one.
This could have been Fleury’s last start in Chicago with Monday’s trade deadline looming and the goalie being the Hawks’ top asset.
Fleury has said he would prefer to stay with the Hawks. But if he’s persuaded to accept a trade to a contender, he gave fans at the United Center a performance to remember.
His highlights included stops against Patrice Bergeron and Hall at the doorstep in the first period and a gem of a save on Brad Marchand’s sharp-angle one-timer during a Hawks penalty kill in the second.
King’s main complaint: He’s running out of superlatives to describe Fleury.
“I don’t know what else to say about this guy,” he said. “When he’s on like that, it’s fun to watch. You know, I don’t want to say there were a lot of outside shots, they were easy shots to see, but he made some spectacular saves.”
Seth Jones said of Fleury: “He’s been consistent like that all year, giving us a chance. We haven’t played well all year, and he’s stood in there strong. He’s really been the backbone of our team when we do get wins. It sucks he’s playing that well and we can’t get a win for him.”
Added Hagel: “He brings 100% every game. He’s not going to let you down. He’s probably the best teammate I’ve had my entire career.”
2. Were the Bruins’ 48 shots on goal as bad as they look on paper?
Quantity doesn’t equal quality, but the Bruins had both.
Yes, the Bruins fired a lot of shots from the outside, but in a snap they were at the goalmouth ready for one-timers and rebounds. They had eight high-danger attempts in the third period.
The Hawks also allowed the Bruins to hold the puck for much too long, especially in the first period. Despite the lopsided zone time and shot totals, the Hawks forced a 1-1 tie through the end of regulation.
“We tired them out in our end and then we got a goal when we needed it. That was the game plan going into this,” King said in jest.
“They get inside on us, but a lot of their shots, too, they were just putting pucks to the net and they were putting bodies at the net and hopefully there are some rebounds. That’s what made it difficult on us.”
3. Were the Hawks’ 20 shots on goal as paltry as they look on paper?
Seth Jones summed it up perfectly: “Any time you play a team like Boston, you’re not going to get a lot of chances. It’s going to be a tight game, not a lot of space, low-scoring affair usually.
“They’re comfortable in those games. That’s something we can probably learn from — to be comfortable in those games.”
Comfort comes from being disciplined with the puck.
“We turned a lot of pucks over trying to do a lot of east-west stuff in the neutral zone,” Jones said.
Added King: “We just couldn’t get inside on this team.”
The Hawks also fell back into their habit of overpassing.
“We just played on the outside, passed it around, didn’t get pucks to the net or we tried to go across ice and turned it over,” Hagel said. “I thought we were getting in their zone good, pucks in their zone, but we were just wasting the puck, throwing it away.”
Kind added: “Way too picky for my liking.”
One situation irked King — when DeBrincat passed up a clear shot from the goalmouth to pass to Hagel.
“You saw the one, and Cat knew it, too, when he came to the bench, he probably should’ve shot that one and he was looking to dish it, right?” King said. “Sometimes you make a decision and you come back to the bench, it’s the wrong one.
“I’d like to see our guys shoot a little more, even if it is from the outside.”
Here is more game coverage.
The Chicago Blackhawks should thank the hockey gods — or Marc-André Fleury.
Perhaps they’re one and the same.
How else do you explain a 43-15 deficit in shots on goal while remaining tied 1-1 with the Boston Bruins midway through the third period?
That was the incredible turn of events when Brandon Hagel redirected Caleb Jones’ shot past Linus Ullmark to put the Hawks on the board with 10 minutes, 24 seconds left in regulation.
The Hawks’ good fortune extended only so far, however.
In overtime, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat doubled David Pastrnak, and Matt Grzelcyk made them pay when Jones faced a two-on-one. Grzelcyk one-timed a pass from Taylor Hall 1:40 into OT to give the Bruins a 2-1 win at the United Center.
“We can’t ask much more from Flower,” Hagel said. “He’s been terrific all year. He’s won us probably half of our games. He’s been the stud of this hockey team. Wish we could have gotten two points for him there.
“He definitely deserved it. … The crowd was chanting his name.”
“He was outstanding,” coach Derek King added. “I don’t know what else to say about this guy. When he’s on like that, it’s fun to watch.”
The Hawks were lucky to make it to overtime.
When you see an NHL box score with a 35-11 difference in shots on goal through two periods, usually it’s the makings of a massacre.
And it well could’ve been if not for some outstanding saves by Fleury, who finished with 46.
He made back-to-back-to-back stops against Derek Forbort, Hall and Pastrnak in the first period, but the real gem was a sliding post-to-post robbery of Brad Marchand on a power-play one-timer in the second period.
The Bruins finally broke the stalemate in the third after Calvin de Haan tripped Curtis Lazar.
The Hawks killed the penalty but found themselves in chase mode in their zone when Patrice Bergeron found the puck amid a mad scramble at the net and flipped it over Fleury’s back.
Despite the close score, it was a tough slog for the Hawks offense, which finished with 20 shots on goal.
“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves early on,” Seth Jones said. “We turned a lot of pucks over trying to do a lot of east-west stuff in the neutral zone. Then when we did have some zone time, we were kind of on the outside a lot.”
Said King: “They’re hard to get inside on. They make it difficult.”
