Blackhawks snap Kings' 7-game winning streak
The Los Angeles Kings seven-game winning streak came to an end on Monday night against the Chicago Blackhawks with a 4-2 loss after they gave up three third period goals.
What makes the win even more impressive for the Blackhawks, other than the fact they beat what has been the hottest team in the NHL right now, is that they were able to do it without the services of their best defenseman, Duncan Keith, and one of their best forwards, Marian Hossa, due to injury.
The Blackhawks are now 4-2 since Keith was sidelined and have allowed just 12 goals in those games. Corey Crawford deserves a lot of credit for that, and he was once again fantastic on Monday night with 33 saves.
Everything else you need to know about the Blackhawks’ big win on Monday.
1. The Blackhawks put a really young roster on the ice
This is what makes the Blackhawks so good year in and year out, and why their Stanley Cup window never seems to close no matter how many players they have to trade or end up losing in free agency.
They keep their big-money stars at the top of the lineup, and they always have another wave of talent coming through the system to complement them and keep replenishing the roster. That was on display on Monday.
Thanks in part to the injuries to Keith and Hossa on Monday night, as well as the demotion of struggling forward Bryan Bickell to the American Hockey League, they had 10 players in their lineup age 25 or younger, including Marko Dano, playing in his first game as a member of the team after he was called up earlier in the day, and Teuvo Teravainen. Teravainen was an impact player in last year’s playoffs for the Blackhawks and started to show his potential and just how important he can be to this roster in the future.
He came through in a big way on Monday and scored the game-winning goal in the third period.
2. You’re not going to like Jonathan Quick when he’s angry
We’ve seen angry Jonathan Quick before and it’s not pretty. We saw it again on Monday night during a skirmish in the second period and it ended with Markus Kruger’s stick flying through the air.
When you just ain’t got no time pic.twitter.com/zbuDqHlIyQ
— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 3, 2015
3. Artem Anisimov has been a huge addition to the Blackhawks’ roster
Trading Brandon Saad was a shocking move for the Blackhawks this summer because he was viewed as a core player and a guy that was going to be in Chicago for the long-haul.
The salary cap had other ideas.
The Blackhawks, though, were able to capitalize on his value at the exact right time and landed a couple of potentially significant pieces including Dano and center Artem Anisimov. Even though losing Saad was a blow to their top-line, that line was always going to produce with or without him. Adding Anisimov to the lineup was a significant boost to their center depth, while Dano gave them another skilled young player on a cheap contract that could potentially give them solid production for a dirt cheap price.
Anisimov continued to make an impact on Monday when he scored his fifth goal of the season — also his second shorthanded goal — when he scored late in the the third period with the Kings on a power play that could have potentially tied the game.
The Chicago Blackhawks snapped the Los Angeles Kings’ winning streak on Monday night. (USATSI)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
