Blackhawks' resilient effort pushes them past Islanders
Sunday’s Blackhawks game had a familiar rhythm to it. The Hawks scored first for the 20th time this season and gave the lead back to the Islanders before the end of the first period.
The game see-sawed, but somehow, the Hawks found themselves with a lead headed into the third period. During the second intermission, the Hawks knew they were in a familiar position. The Hawks were fed up with coming up short and watching opposing teams capitalize off their mistakes and snatch away victories.
But after the Islanders scored 47 seconds into the period to tie the game again, it looked like the Hawks would fade again in the third period. But instead of faltering, they stood tall and star Connor Bedard’s shot from the slot found the back of the net for the go-ahead goal with 54 seconds left before defenseman Connor Murphy’s empty-net goal added insurance to the lead.
Bedard said he shot it at goalie Ilya Sorokin’s chest and “somehow it kind of found its way in.”
The bounces worked in the Hawks' favor in their 5-3 win against the Islanders that snapped a two-game losing streak.
“Going into the third period — in between intermissions — that was something that everybody was just kind of piping up,” said defenseman Alex Vlasic, who finished with two assists. “Enough of what's happened the last week or so — I guess all season, honestly, just with the way that we've been able to blow leads — and so today, for us to do that, everybody had to bear down and make the simple play."
After coming apart in third periods in the previous two games, the Hawks were able to keep the game within distance. They never let the Islanders gain the upper hand.
“It’s one of those things, the randomness of the game,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “I thought [Saturday] we played better and didn’t get the result, and today we kind of did bend a little bit, but we never broke. We didn’t play our best game but found a way to win.”
The Hawks certainly had a breakdown on the Islanders’ goal in the third period, allowing the Islanders to tie the game 3-3. The Hawks got caught in a tough change that allowed defenseman Noah Dobson to have a ton of open ice to get to a high-percentage area. Those types of gaffes typically led to a cavalcade of mistakes for the Hawks.
The Hawks aren't built to make a playoff push, but with several young prospects on the roster, the Hawks needed to see more resiliency out of this group and they answered that call on Sunday.
“Right now, we're struggling to find wins, and so everything we can get is important for us,” Vlasic said. "It was one of those games where, similar to the last few, where we get the lead and find a way to give it up. And for us to find that extra gear in the third period and not back down and get that goal back was huge.”
Sunday was the Hawks’ first win at home since Nov. 27 against Dallas. Given that many of their fans can’t watch their games, they understand how important any win is, particularly wins at home.
“Our fans are coming out every game and supporting us, giving us a lot of energy,” Bedard said. “It's so much fun to play here. Just to get a win for them and celebrate at the end of the game like that is great to see.”