After a competitive loss in Nashville on Thursday night, the Blackhawks returned home to host the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen tweaked his roster, scratching Nolan Allan in favor of Wyatt Kaiser. Petr Mrázek got the start in goal.

Game Summary

Vegas would strike first 9:29 into the first period. Pat Maroon turned the puck over in the defensive zone. Alex Pietrangelo made a perfect pass from the left point to the right slot to Victor Olofsson, who one-timed the puck through Alex Vlasic and behind Mrázek.

Lukas Reichel would answer back for the Blackhawks, scoring one of the prettiest goals of his NHL career so far. Reichel settled a long, air-mailed pass from Foligno, stickhandled through Nicolas Hague, and deposited the puck behind Ilya Samsonov.

The next shift, Frank Nazar drew a tripping call from Pietrangelo, and the Hawks were off to the power play. It took them all of 26 seconds to break the tie as Tyler Bertuzzi tipped in his team-leading 15th goal of the season. 2-1 Hawks.

The Hawks weren’t done. With time running down in the period, Ryan Donato pushed a puck in front of Samsonov, where Maroon and Taylor Hall took turns whacking at it. Hall’s second chance found the back of the net, and the Blackhawks had a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

It was one of the team’s strongest periods of the season. The Hawks took advantage of a Vegas team who played Friday night in Carolina. “It’s something we want to take advantage of,” Sorensen said before the game. “Let’s be jumping on them early. Let’s get our forecheck going earlier.”

Mission accomplished. The Hawks outshot Vegas 13-5 , held a 23-18 shot-attempt advantage and a 5-3 high-danger chance advantage at 5v5.

Could they keep it up for 40 more minutes?

The second period began with an early marathon scrap between Maroon (6-3, 235 lbs) and Hague (6-6, 245 lbs). Maroon won the fight handily, and the United Center crowd went nuts. I didn’t love how the Hawks had come out to start the period. They looked passive and tentative. Perhaps Maroon sensed the same.

Tomas Hertl cut the Hawks lead to 3-2 8:10 into the period. I’ve always called Hertl “Baby Hossa,” and this goal illustrates why. He drove right through Alec Martinez, who had him in a good position. Hertl was just too strong and too good.

With 10:09 left in the second, the Knights would head to the power play after Vlasic was tagged for boarding. At that point, Vegas held a 10-1 shot advantage in the period. It was a massive kill for Chicago, and felt like a potential turning point in the game. They killed it off after a huge save from Mrázek and some nice penalty killing from Nazar, but they ended up short handed again just over a minute later after TJ Brodie was called for holding.

Hertl would tie the game with a net-front deflection. Mrázek was screened by soon-to-be on the IR Mark Stone, but wouldn’t have had much of a chance anyway.

With 1:02 to go in the period, Connor Bedard found Jones walking in all alone. Jones had all day to aim and fire and didn’t miss, ripping a wrist shot past Samsonov.

Bedard and Bertuzzi ended the period with a late two-on-one rush. Bedard opted to pass, and Bertuzzi shot it high while falling to the ice.

The Hawks were outshot 17-3 in the period despite the 4-3 lead. Radio analyst Troy Murray made a great point in the intermission show on WGN. This is eerily similar to Thursday’s game in Nashville, where the Hawks held the Preds to five shots in the first, only to give up 30 over the next two periods. They’d have to buckle down to win this game.

The Hawks would get a power play 4:03 into the third, and they’d score five seconds later as Bertuzzi, again, planted himself in front of the net and put the puck behind Samsonov.

5-3 Hawks.

With about six minutes left in the game, Zach Whitecloud laid a big hit on Donato at the blue line. Maroon took issue with Whitecloud, and while Whitecloud was called for roughing, Maroon got a four-minute roughing call and a game misconduct. The Knights would head to the power play. The Hawks would kill the penalty, and try to protect their lead for the next four minutes.

Fortuitously, Stone was called for a late-period slash, and the Hawks would end the game on the power play, and win the game 5-3.

Jay’s Final Thoughts

• I didn’t love that Allan was scratched in this game, and while I get the desire to get Kaiser back in the lineup, why not sit Brodie instead at this point? I will die on this hill. The Hawks are in last place. No one is looking to trade for a full year plus of Brodie. Play the kids.

• Nazar continues to impress, and Saturday night, his penalty killing impressed me the most. He’s aggressive and confident in the role. I’m surprised how quickly Sorensen trusts him to kill penalties this early into his NHL career, but I love it.

• Speaking of Nazar, if there’s anyone due for some puck luck, it’s him. You can look no further than his two-on-one with Bedard late in the third. Bedard set him up with a perfect sauce pass. Nazar got 100% of it, but it was an inch too low, and Samsonov made the save. Stick with it, 91. They’re coming.

• Did you see the play Louis Crevier made on Jack Eichel with about 13:00 left in the third? Eichel was attacking with speed, and Crevier hung with him and knocked him away from the puck. I’d love to ask Sorensen, perhaps over a beer, how he ranks Kaiser, Allan, and Crevier. Crevier might suddenly be on top of that list. I don’t think that means that he’s moved up the organization’s list, but for now, at this moment, he might be the most trusted of the three.

• Seeing how effective Bedard is with Bertuzzi and Nazar makes me dream of how things could be with a bona fide superstar (Elias Pettersson?) on his line. It looks like Vancouver has chosen Pettersson over JT Miller, who could be on the move by the time this is published, but a boy can dream.

• Jones was named the number one star of the game, and deserved it. He ended the night with a goal and two assists. He also drew raves from his coach and teammates. Sorensen called it Jones’ best game since he took over as head coach. Here’s what Foligno had to say: “He played awesome. He’s a proud guy. He’s a pro. And he wants to be a part of this and it’s nice to see him leading the way. When he does, look how much better we are. It’s just the reality of the position he holds. It’s a privilege and he understands that.”

• Something in that Foligno quote stood out to me. “It’s nice to see him leading the way. When he does, look how much better we are.” I’m not trying to create controversy or make a mountain out of a molehill, but Foligno knows the Hawks go as Jones go. When he is playing like he’s played over the last two games, the Hawks are a different team.

Nuggets and Timbits

• This was a game full of milestones. Foligno played in his 1200th NHL game, while Donato recorded his 100th career assist. It was also the first time one of the kids from the intermission relay race said Jones was their favorite Blackhawk.

• From the Vegas end, Olofsson’s goal was the 100th of his career. He also has 100 career assists. He’s the 26th player in NHL history to have an even 100 goals and 100 assists at the time of their 200th career point (via the Vegas Golden Knights).

• The Blackhawks needed a combined 31 power play seconds to score their two power play goals.

• This was the Blackhawks’ first regulation win vs Vegas at the United Center.