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Chicago – Jeff Blashill’s first three games with the Chicago Blackhawks were one-goal losses decided in the third period or overtime.
His fourth one was a long-awaited victory.
Blashill directed Chicago to a 3-1 win over Utah on Monday night for his first victory since he was hired by the Blackhawks in May.
“It was really disappointing over the first three games that we had moments of good hockey and put ourselves in position to win and didn’t,” Blashill said. “So to get the win is nice. For me personally, it’s, you know, it’s a good feeling. You want to get that first one out of the way, and hopefully there’s many more to come.”
Blashill, 51, is beginning his second stint as a head coach in the NHL after he went 204-261-72 in seven seasons with Detroit. He was an assistant with Tampa Bay for the previous three years.
The Detroit native is hoping to lead the Blackhawks out of a painful rebuilding project that had the team in last place in the Central Division in each of the previous three years.
This season just started, but there have been some encouraging signs.
“I like him as a coach and a person,” goaltender Spencer Knight said. “I really appreciate his eye for details, for building a style that is sustainable over time to win not just one hockey game in October, but to build a system that can win continuously over the course of a season and then hopefully into the postseason. That’s what really matters.”
The Blackhawks were tied at 2 after two periods in each of their first three games. They lost 4-3 in overtime at Boston on Thursday night. They dropped their home opener on Saturday on Kaiden Guhle’s goal with 15.7 seconds left, lifting Montreal to a 3-2 win.
Blashill’s team had a 1-0 lead over Utah before JJ Peterka scored for the Mammoth 1:02 into the third period. But Andre Burakovsky scored a power-play goal for Chicago at 8:55, and Ilya Mikheyev helped close it out with an empty-netter in the final seconds for his second goal of the night.
“We’ve been in this situation four times now where you know they’re one-goal games late,” Blashill said. “That’s a good thing. But you have to find ways to win. You can’t just be close in those games. You have to continue to find ways to win, which we did tonight.”
Like Knight, the 30-year-old Burakovsky also praised Blashill’s attention to details, and he said it played a role in the victory over the Mammoth.
“I think today, even though we maybe didn’t have so much puck the whole time, I think our details on the defensive side were really good,” he said. “And that’s something we’ve been working on. So good job by him to help us get through there.”
Tkachuk out ‘significant’ amount of time
Ottawa, Ontario – Ottawa Senators coach Travis Green said Tuesday that captain Brady Tkachuk will miss a “significant” amount of time with an upper-body injury.
Tkachuk was hurt in a 4-1 home loss to Nashville on Monday night when he was cross-checked by Predators defenseman Roman Josi early in the first period and went awkwardly into the boards.
The 26-year-old American winger stayed in the game before leaving for the final half of the third period.
Green estimated Tkachuk would be out four weeks but said the injury will undergo further diagnosis and did not rule out surgery.
Tkachuk contributed 29 goals and 26 assists across 72 regular-season games for the Senators last season, then added seven points (four goals, three assists) in six playoff games.
Brady’s brother, Matthew, a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion with the Florida Panthers, is also out with injury. The team expects Matthew to be sidelined until December.
Tuesday’s NHL
Edmonton 2, (at) N.Y. Rangers 0: Trent Frederic scored, Stuart Skinner stopped all 30 shots he faced and the back-to-back defending Western Conference-champion Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Tuesday night.
The Rangers became the first team in NHL history to get shut out in each of their first three home games of a season. Their 180-minute goal drought at Madison Square Garden is the second-longest, behind only the now-defunct Pittsburgh Pirates’ 187:19 in 1928.
Skinner joined Washington’s Charlie Lindgren and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Arturs Silovs in blanking New York over the past eight days.
(At) Washington 3, Tampa Bay 2 (OT): Jacob Chychrun scored 1:19 into overtime and Washington beat Tampa Bay for its third straight win.
Tom Wilson had a goal and two assists, and Aliaksei Protas also scored for Washington, which came in with two straight road wins against the New York Islanders and Rangers. Dylan Strome also had two assists and Logan Thompson finished with 17 saves.
Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, and Alexei Vasilevskiy had 25 saves. The Lightning have lost three of four and will be in Detroit on Friday.
(At) Toronto 7, Nashville 4: Oliver Ekman-Larsson and John Tavares each had a goal and two assists and Toronto snapped a two-game skid with a win over Nashville.
Auston Matthews had two goals, including an empty-netter, and Jake McCabe and Bobby McMann also scored for Toronto. Cayden Primeau made 26 saves. William Nylander had two assists and added an empty-net goal. Matthew Knies finished with three assists.
Nick Perbix had a goal and an assist, and Michael McCarron, Erik Haula and Roman Josi scored for Nashville. Justus Annunen stopped 21 shots in a matchup of backup goaltenders.
(At) Montreal 5, Seattle 4 (OT): Cole Caufield scored his second goal of the game at 3:25 of overtime to give Montreal a win over Seattle.
Canadiens rookie standout Ivan Demidov tied the game with less than three minutes left in the third period, forcing OT. Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach also scored for Montreal. Samuel Montembeault made 18 saves as the Canadiens ran their winning streak to three games in the opener of a four-game homestand.
Jaden Schwartz, Jani Nyman, Jamie Oleksiak and Jared McCann scored for the Kraken, who dropped their first game of the season and the opener of a six-game trip. Joey Daccord stopped 17 shots.
October schedules
Wednesday
▶ Panthers at Red Wings, 7
Thursday
▶ Robert Morris at Michigan, 7
▶ Green Bay at NTDP U17, 7
Friday
▶ Lightning at Red Wings, 7
▶ Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Michigan State at Boston University, 6:30
▶ Robert Morris at Michigan, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Massuchusetts Lowell, 7:15
▶ Michigan Tech at Alaska, 11 p.m.
▶ Colorado College at Northern Michigan, 7
▶ Lake Superior State at NTDP U18, 7
▶ NTDP U17 at Youngston, 7
Saturday
▶ Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Michigan State at Boston University, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Massachusetts Lowell, 6
▶ Michigan Tech at Alaska, 11 p.m.
▶ Colorado College at Northern Michigan, 6
▶ Ferris State at NTDP U18, 7
Sunday
▶ Oilers at Red Wings, 3
Wednesday, Oct. 22
▶ Red Wings at Sabres, 7:30
Thursday, Oct. 23
▶ Red Wings at Islanders, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Michigan, 7
Friday, Oct. 24
▶ Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Michigan State at Northern Michigan, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Michigan, 7
▶ Michigan Tech at Ferris State, 6
▶ NTDP U18 at Niagara University, 6
▶ NTDP U17 at Des Moines, 8
Saturday, Oct. 25
▶ Blues at Red Wings, 7
▶ Michigan State at Northern Michigan, 6
▶ Michigan Tech at Ferris State, 6
▶ NTDP U18 at Cornell, 7
▶ NTDP U17 at Des Moines, 8
Tuesday, Oct. 28
▶ Red Wings at Blues, 8:15
▶ Grand Rapids at Iowa, 8
Thursday, Oct. 30
▶ Red Wings at L.A. Kings, 10:30
▶ Muskegon at NTDP U18, 7
Friday, Oct. 31
▶ Red Wings at Ducks, 10
▶ Michigan at Notre Dame, TBD
▶ Michigan Tech at Clarkson, 7
▶ Northern Michigan at Augustana, 8
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