The Blackhawks headed west on Sunday visiting their Western Conference foes from Anaheim. The Ducks came into this game on a 2 game win streak, and it showed early.
The Ducks dominated the first half of the game with a few sporadic chances for the Blackhawks including Bryan Bickell’s goal late in the 1st period. Andreas Lilja’s 1st period goal, and Corey Perry’s early 2nd period tally were enough as Jonas Hiller stopped 39 total shots including 19 in a 3rd period dominated by Chicago.
The Hawks had many scoring opportunities turned aside by Hiller, and a potential game tying goal by Viktor Stalberg was denied by the stick of Dave Bolland who inadvertently deflected Stalberg’s shot late in the 3rd.
There were a few positive points however in this loss…for the first time in a long time, Viktor Stalberg’s presence was felt on the ice. With arguably his best game in weeks, the winger recorded 4 shots, good enough for 3rd most on the team. Also, Bryan Bickell has continued to show improvement, and Corey Crawford recorded yet another solid game between the pipes.
Other bullet points:
- It was reported today by multiple media outlets that Jonathan Toew’s shoulder injury wasn’t as bad as originally believed, and that the Hawks captain could maybe play Monday night in Los Angeles.
- Viktor Stalberg’s goal-less streak is now at 17 games, while Marian Hossa has only 1 goal in his last 18 games.
- Fernando Pisani and Jordan Hendry returned to the lineup after being scratched the last couple of games.
- Jake Dowell was benched the entire 3rd period Sunday night
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