Chicago Blackhawks forward Pat Maroon started Sunday’s matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers with a nice retirement gift: a highlight-reel-worthy goal.
He finished with another: a 7-4 win.
The Hawks were down 1-0 in the first period on Jamie Drysdale’s game-opener.
Maroon disrupted a Philly breakout as several Flyers were already headed out of the zone. That left Ilya Mikheyev free to collect the puck and pass it to Nick Foligno, who passed around Drysdale’s slide technique to Maroon for the tying tip-in.
Maroon looked more like he was breathing a sigh of relief than anything resembling a celebration, as smiling teammates mobbed him.
“I think (it was) emotions, for sure,” Maroon said. “That’s why we play the game. You never know when you’re going to score your last goal.
“(Mikheyev) did a heck of a job there retrieving the puck, making a great play to (Foligno) and right when the guy slid, (Foligno) made his move. And I almost missed it. Thank god I scored.”
Maroon announced his retirement Saturday during the intermission of a road game against his hometown St. Louis Blues, where he spent the 2018-19 season.
"One thing I’m going to miss is the camaraderie with the guys, the banter in the room and the grind with the guys, the ups and downs, the highs and lows and the process of doing all that stuff with everyone."–Blackhawks F Pat Maroon on retiring after the season
— Phil Thompson (@philthompsontrib.bsky.social) 2025-03-24T00:33:25.667Z
“I’ve given everything I have,” Maroon said after that game. “I wanted to go out on my own terms. I don’t want to be scratching and crawling for a contract and them telling me I’m out.”
He expounded on his feelings Sunday.
“I enjoy this game as much as I can every day,” Maroon said. “I come in and smile, joke around. This game has given me everything and more, and I’ve always played like it’s my last game no matter what happens and I’m going to continue to do that.
“I talked on it a bunch yesterday, but I enjoy coming to the rink every day. One thing I’m going to miss is the camaraderie with the guys, the banter in the room and the grind with the guys, the ups and downs, the highs and lows and the process of doing all that stuff with everyone.
“But I’m going to enjoy these last few moments with my family and these last couple of weeks. After that we’ll go from there.”
Ryan Donato says Maroon still has something left to give — to the Hawks and to the game.
“He’s the best,” Donato said. “He’s still got it. He’s still got those hands. He can still score, he makes plays, he always makes the right decisions. And it’s just kind of a testament to a guy that’s won Cups like that.
Given Maroon’s 14 seasons, “hopefully the younger guys are a sponge around him, because he’s a perfect example of a guy who knows how to win.”
Donato had two goals, Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and two assists and Maroon added an assist to his goal in what turned into a barnburner.
Joe Veleno, who initially joined Maroon on the fourth line after his trade from Detroit, joined him on the scoresheet with a wrister 47 seconds later.
Their moment in the sun didn’t last a minute.
Travis Sanheim tied it 2-2 just 12 seconds after Veleno’s goal (and 59 seconds after Maroon’s).
That was just the appetizer for the fireworks to come in a game that culminated in a Hawks’ 7-4 win, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
Bobby Brink regained the lead for the Flyers, but Connor Bedard tied it with an unassisted goal — his 20th of the season.
In the second period, Bertuzzi’s goal and Donato’s power-play tip-in staked the Hawks to a 5-3 lead, but Travis Konecny cut into it with a sneaky point shot.
Donato followed up with a doorstep one-timer from Teuvo Teräväinen.
In his eight-year career, Donato had never had two power-play goals in a game, let alone in a period.
Lukas Reichel led off the third with his seventh goal of the season and first since March 1 in Anaheim.
Playing a lot of fourth-line minutes (sensing a theme here), Reichel doesn’t get many opportunities that the goalie doesn’t see coming.
That was the case against Ivan Fedotov, but Reichel waited for the Flyers goalie to make his move, maneuvered around his pad and banked his shot off Emil Andrae’s skate.
His goal gave the Hawks a 7-4 lead, the first time they put up seven goals since March 12, 2024, against the Ducks.
“Obviously it’s been a tough stretch of games for us,” Maroon said, referring to the losing streak. “It’s not a 1-0 game but we found a way to win and come back.
“Our power play was really good tonight, our PK stood on its head and we found ways to get goals.”
Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen added, “We made a lot of plays but had a lot of good puck support, and that was probably the biggest thing I noticed.
“We were closer to the puck and able to break pressure, if it was up the ice or in our own zone.”
Here are four takeaways.
1. Bedard appears to be revving up again.
He had back-to-back games with power-play goals, but he hadn’t scored a five-on-five goal in regulation since Jan. 30 in Carolina.
Before the game Sorensen said Bedard has his looks at the net, but “it hasn’t been going his way.”
“So he’s frustrated a little bit, pressing, especially when a player of his caliber expects to score and is under the spotlight constantly,” Sorensen said. “But just trying to get him to trust his instincts and make the plays he sees but don’t force things at the same time.”
According to NHL Edge stats, Bedard has his best shooting from the slot: 25%, but he takes most of his shots from the right wing.
However, late in the first period Sunday, Bedard seized the puck after a faceoff scrum and sniped a shot from the slot with 1 minute, 48 seconds left.
“He’s had chances and now they’re starting to go in. His last five games have been really good overall. Maybe the numbers don’t always show it, but he’s been really good,” Sorensen said after the game.
“Today he obviously got rewarded for it.”
2. Maroon kept his retirement plans close to the vest.
Hawks teammates didn’t know before Maroon made the announcement himself Saturday during an intermission interview with broadcaster Darren Pang in St. Louis, Maroon’s hometown.
“I think my family’s a little mad at me because I didn’t tell anyone,” Maroon said Sunday. “I told my wife and my dad, that’s about it. …
“I’ve been in this league for a long time and I’ve wrestled with it all year, if this was going to be my last year or not. … I achieved so much in my career. I probably overachieved. The odds were against me every time and I bet on myself every time. I just went out there to try and prove everyone wrong.”
After taking stock of his career, what he accomplished as a player on the ice and a person in the locker room, “I just made my decision by calling my agent and obviously my dad and my wife.
He chose to make a “special moment” of the Hawks visit to the Blues he was born and raised in St. Louis.
“But, yeah, I’m looking forward to the new chapter in my life and I can’t wait for it and I can’t wait for what unfolds for me and what doors are going to open again. I’ll close this one and put up a new one and go from there.”
3. Donato’s two power-play goals were remarkable for several reasons.
He had never scored two power-play goals in a game, let alone one period.
“When you have guys that can make plays like Teräväinen, Bedard, Bertuzzi, even (Artyom Levshunov), it’s pretty easy to find yourself open,” Donato said. “Some nights it seems like we’re clicking on a different level, which is great. I’m just very happy that (Teräväinen) fed me, too, right on the back door, nice and easy ones.
In this case, Donato’s usually at the bumper spot, but because of the unit’s movement around the ice he found himself at the net.
“It kind of switches around, and it’s kind of how we created some little bit of havoc, a little bit of confusion,” Donato said. “And, like I said, you have good players like Teräväinen, he’s going to find those plays.”
Donato also snapped a three-game pointless streak and extended his team lead to 25 goals.
None of the aforementioned statistics have been typical of his career, which is why some skeptics chalk this up to a “fluke” season.
He’s up for a new contract, and given that he’s the Hawks’ only 20-goal scorer, the front office can’t afford to gamble whether it’s a fluke or not. If it is, so be it.
Donato brings other intangibles.
Sorensen said, “He’s emotionally invested in everything he does, if it’s his preparation, on the bench he wants to be out there.
“He’s a really upbeat but also really intense person, and I think that’s why he’s having some success. The feedback part, he wants to know what’s good and bad and doesn’t shy away from it. He’s got a sneaky way to find (goals). He’s around the net a lot. He gets his shot off a lot. And those things usually work well.”
4. Well, shoot, the Hawks didn’t need to do anything special on offense.
The Hawks finished October ranked 18th in the league with 28.2 shots-for per game, but entering Sunday’s matchup, they ranked last with 24.4.
“(The) shooting mentality as a group, we have to do a better job,” Sorensen said before the game.
Sometimes it seems like they almost need an engraved invitation to shoot.
Well, they essentially got one in Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov, who ranked 40th with a 3.03 goals-against average (among qualifiers) and 48th with an .884 save percentage before Sunday’s puck drop.
That was easier said than done in the first part of the first period as the Flyers did not give Hawks puck carriers room to breathe.
But once things settled. The Hawks and Flyers were trading shots — and goals — back and forth.
In the end, the Hawks’ 28 shots were just one more than what they put up against the Blues, and that effort only produced one goal.
Perhaps this is a case where the matchup matters.
“We’ve had a few of those games in spurts, but tonight was nice because we haven’t scored in a while, five-on-five especially,” Sorensen said.
