Blackhawks Recap: Mrázek's heroics bury Avalanche

One day after Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said the team needed to find their identity and play a brand of hockey they, and Hawks fans, could be proud of, the team returned to the ice to host the Avalanche. How would the Blackhawks respond to their captain’s challenge?

Game Summary

The Blackhawks opened the period with a solid shift and even built a 3-0 shots-on-goal lead. However, it didn’t last long as Jusso Parssinen outraced Lukas Reichel and roofed a beautiful backhander past Petr Mrázek 6:14 into the game.

Reichel should have been able to catch Parssinen on the play, especially considering he had only been on the ice for 30 seconds at that point. I didn’t love 73’s effort on that play.

In the moments that followed, Colorado dominated, controlling the play and even hitting a post, but the Blackhawks would tie the game at 16:48 after Connor Bedard broke up a clearing pass from Samuel Girard. Ilya Mikheyev retrieved the puck, walked in, and popped the puck past Avs goalie Trent Miner, who was making his first NHL start.

The first period ended with a 14-8 Avalanche advantage in shots on goal, but shot attempts were only 20-18. The Hawks closed the gap late in the frame.

The Avalanche would get an early second-period power play after Craig Smith tripped Devon Toews in the Hawks zone. The Hawks would kill the penalty, thanks to three spectacular saves in one sequence from Mrázek.

Mrázek wasn’t done, as he stopped the Avs on another furious attack. The Hawks would quickly reward their netminder, as newly-minted AHL All-Star Frank Nazar scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Colton Dach and Teuvo Teräväinen. It was Dach’s first NHL point.

After Wednesday’s morning skate, interim head coach Anders Sorensen noted how Nazar was bound to score soon. “He’s had some of those chances. Eventually, it’s going to break through here.”

Two minutes later, it looked like Bedard had extended the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-1, but after review, it was determined the puck was kicked into the net. It was close, but it was the correct call.

I’ve called the Blackhawks fragile all season because they have been. How would they react to this letdown?

The Blackhawks began the third period on an early penalty kill, but the best scoring chance came for Chicago when Nazar forced a shorthanded turnover. Nazar fed the puck to a streaking Teräväinen, who rang it off the crossbar. It even fooled TNT play-by-play man Brendan Burke, who made one hell of a goal call.

With 8:06 left, Bedard would rip home a goal no one could take away. Bedard streaked down the right-wing boards and took a perfect pass from Tyler Bertuzzi. He unleashed the “generational” shot that made him the first-overall pick. Miner didn’t stand a chance.

The Avs would pull Miner with 3:26 left on the clock. It was “hold on to your butts” time, but the Blackhawks would hold on after an excellent 6-on-5 defensive performance. Colorado held a lot of zone time, but were limited to only a handful of solid scoring chances.

Hawks win 3-1.

Jay’s Final Thoughts

Nazar scoring was awesome. Dach getting his first NHL point was exciting. Bedard’s snipe was a thing of beauty, but make no mistake, Mrázek is the story of this game. He was absolutely outstanding, stopping 36 of 37 Colorado shots, 13 of the “high-danger” variety. According to MoneyPuck.com, Mrázek stopped 1.68 goals above expected in this game. If that were his 82 game average, it would rank him first in the NHL for goalies with 10 games or more.

Mrázek had struggled since returning from his injury on December 21st, allowing 15 goals in his three games back. “I was just battling since I returned,” Mrázek said after the game. “I knew there was going to be a game that I can prove I can still play the game.”

“He made some big saves, and some really hard saves on some really good players,” Sorensen said.

Seth Jones also hadn’t been himself since his injury but was outstanding in the victory. Jones finished the night with 26:12 of ice time, an assist, a +2 rating, and three blocked shots. “He competed harder,” Sorensen said. “He closed in on guys defensively a lot better. In the first-period, he had two or three shots. That’s what we expect from him, so that was a good game from him.”

Nazar also looks more and more comfortable every game, and Bedard notices. “You see Frankie getting better every game, and playing really well, and creating a lot. It feels like every game is his next best game. I’m sure he’s going to go on a roll now.”

Nuggets and Timbits

• Bedard’s assist on Mikheyev’s goal extended his point streak to eight games (4 G – 7A) and 18 points in 15 games under Sorensen.
• The assist was also the 65th of Bedard’s career, which ties him with Patrick Kane for second all-time for a Blackhawks teenager, behind only Eddie Olczyk (80).
• The Dach, Nazar, and Teräväinen line led the team with a 70% Corsi percentage. Mikheyev, Bedard, and Bertuzzi finished with a 61.9% rating.
• Fun-Fact from the TNT broadcast: Avs goalie Trent Miner first attended an NHL game as a fan at the United Center.
• Not-So-Fun Fact from the TNT broadcast: Nathan MacKinnon has 33 points in the third period. That would make him the Blackhawks’ second-leading scorer based on third-period points alone. Fortunately, he didn’t add to that total on Wednesday night.
• Check out this awesome bit of research from CHGO White Sox’s very own Sean Anderson…

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