CHICAGO — Just when the Chicago Blackhawks needed their best players to be their best players in order to get back on track, they came through.
In the Blackhawks’ 3-0 win against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, there was Spencer Knight denying Mika Zibanejad on a breakaway in the first period and rejecting Noah Laba on multiple chances in front of the net in the third period. The Blackhawks defense contained the Rangers for most of the night and didn’t give up much quantity or quality. What they did, Knight was more than up to the challenge, stopping all 21 of the Rangers’ shots and recording his second shutout of the season.
There was Connor Bedard scoring from the slot in the second period for his 19th goal of the season as he finished off a pass from André Burakovsky, who did a lot of the work on the play by creating speed on the entry and locating Bedard. The Blackhawks’ top line of Burakovsky, Bedard and Ryan Greene had splendid chances throughout the game. If it wasn’t for Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin’s reflexes, the line would have had a couple goals. Burakovsky was robbed of one in the first period when he had a clear opening quickly filled by Shesterkin.
There was Tyler Bertuzzi again finishing at the net on a rebound in a third period. Consistency has often eluded Bertuzzi through his career and he’s found it this season. He scored his 16th goal Wednesday in his 27th game of the season.
And then there was Louis Crevier.
Crevier was the one who got the Blackhawks going Wednesday when he broke a 0-0 tie with a short-handed goal in the second period. Crevier had nearly gotten free on a shorthanded breakaway, but the puck had gotten stopped in the neutral zone. Crevier waited near the Rangers’ blue line to see whether the Blackhawks might still gain possession. They did; Matt Grzelcyk pushed the puck ahead to Crevier and the 6-foot-8 defensive defenseman went in against Shesterkin, one of the game’s premier goalies.
Let Crevier explain what happened from there.
“It’s funny, during the summer, you get some breakaways, you get some looks that you don’t look often,” Crevier said. “That was one of the moves that I was doing most of the time and it was working well. I felt like he was pretty up, maybe expecting a shot. I don’t know, to be fair, you don’t really know what to do. I just trusted my instincts.”
Shorthanded goal alert! 🚨
Louis Crevier scores first for the @NHLBlackhawks!
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Maybe Crevier isn’t in the same star category as those previously mentioned players, but outside of the development jumps Knight and Bedard have made this season, it’s arguable Crevier has made the third-largest leap. No one could have predicted Crevier would not only would become an NHL regular by establishing himself as a shutdown defenseman, but also lead the Blackhawks defensemen in goals and be second in points after 30 games. That type of play, especially the offense, was expected out of the likes of Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov. Crevier wasn’t even a lock to make the roster out of camp.
“Going into the year, I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest with you,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said after the game. “I sat on the other bench last year and was like, ‘Wow, is that guy big.’ But I didn’t know him other than that as a player. Louis’ confidence is really growing and as his confidence grows, he’s becoming a better and better player. He’s 6-foot whatever, eight or seven, he skates well, he’s got good hands, he can shoot a puck. Those are all attributes that lead to a pretty good player, and I think he’s developing into a good piece for us in front of our eyes.”
As good as those four players were in Wednesday’s win, the whole team deserves plenty of credit. The Blackhawks were coming off two of their worst losses of the season: a 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday and 7-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Would that be the start of a slide or could they get back to playing solid hockey? They took the last few days to reset and answered with a strong all-around game.
The Rangers had those aforementioned quality chances on Knight, but there weren’t many more than that. The Blackhawks killed off three Rangers power plays and scored a short-handed goal. At five-on-five, the Blackhawks had more shot attempts (48-43) and scoring chances (25-19) and had a 51.44 expected goals percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick. They scored the two five-on-five goals, too. The power play could use some work, but that’d be the lone criticism for the game.
Blashill didn’t go as far as claiming the Blackhawks had played their best game of the season, but he was pleased.
“I thought we played some pretty good games, but it was certainly a complete game,” he said. “I thought we did a really good job through the 60 minutes. I would say the first (period) was really good. The second was fine. I thought the third, outside of the penalties, we did a really good job. Came out in the third and kind of play the way you have to play to grind away wins. It was the type of hockey that leads to success, so we’ll just keep building off it.”
Blashill’s use of 11 forwards and seven defensemen in a majority of the games served the Blackhawks well for most of the season. It allowed Blashill to use defensemen situationally, play to their strengths and not put too much of a load on anyone. It was one of the reasons why the Blackhawks were successful early.
What can also be true is the Blackhawks needed to get back to playing the more traditional 12 forwards and six defensemen. The defensemen, especially Levshunov, Crevier and Wyatt Kaiser, have proven themselves over the start of the season and deserved to have more responsibility. It was also clear having Sam Rinzel as the seventh defenseman wasn’t helping him or the team. The Blackhawks’ forwards, especially their fourth line, needed more consistent ice time, too.
The Blackhawks definitely looked more in sync throughout their lineup on Wednesday. It’s hard to say that’s fully on the lineup alteration, but it probably had some effect.
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The Blackhawks’ defensemen had steady ice time. In five-on-five play, Levshunov led the team at 18:01 and was followed by Alex Vlasic (17:22), Matt Grzelcyk (16:40), Connor Murphy (16:30), Kaiser (16:01) and Crevier (15:22).
“It’s a little bit of an adjustment,” Grzelcyk said of going back to six defensemen. “A good thing is we’ve all played with each other and all have a little bit of chemistry, being out there in different situations. Within a game, maybe sometimes it can be a little bit better, just reading off each other and have a little bit more communication when coming to the bench, things like that. As a D corps, it was probably one of our better games, using our feet to our advantage and gapping up. It was fun to see.”
Frank Nazar was all alone with Shesterkin in the third period. Nazar picked off a pass as the Rangers exited their zone on a power play, and Nazar just had the goalie to beat. But as he approached the net, Nazar lost the puck and couldn’t regather it. With that, Nazar’s goalless streak reached 18 games.
Nazar has to feel like the hockey gods are against him right now. He’s had a full slate of amazing chances lately, but lacked the finish. Despite the production, Blashill has loved Nazar’s game.
“Honestly, I thought Frank Nazar was as good as he’s played probably all season,” Blashill said. “I thought he was excellent tonight. I look at process, I look at things like being over the puck and being strong on the puck ad having those opportunities to make plays and using his speed. Yes, there have been nights where maybe …. St. Louis, in St. Louis he was flashier. But I thought for the things it’s going to take for Frank to be a really, really big-time difference maker, he was excellent tonight.
“Is it frustrating when you’re not scoring? Yes. Our job as a coaching staff is to keep him focused on the process because points come and go. I’ve seen it all the time. He’ll get his points if he plays like that on a consistent basis.”