Chicago made a great comeback win when they scored three quick goals in the third period to rally past the San Jose Sharks on Sunday, March 17th at the United Center. After a very unfortunate 5-0 loss against the Los Angeles Kings following possibly two of their best games recently, this game was an improvement with an amazing effort to secure a 5-2 victory. Connor Bedard scored his 21st, leading all rookies in the NHL with not only goals but also points (53 points in 54 games).
Sharks lineup against the Blackhawks:
Barabanov – Granlund – Zetterlund
Zadina – Eklund – Kunin
Bordeleau – Sturm – Kostin
Labanc – Carpenter – Bailey
Ferraro – Burroughs
Thrun – Vlasic
MacDonald – Addison
Cooley
Chrona
Blackhawks lineup against the Sharks:
Johnson – Bedard – Kurashev
Foligno – Athanasiou – Reichel
Blackwell – Dickinson – Anderson
Slaggert – Donato – Raddysh
Vlasic – Jones
Korchinski – Megna
Tinordi – Zaitsev
Mrazek
Soderblom
At 9:27 of the first period, San Jose took the lead when Ryan Carpenter scored the go-ahead goal. After passing the puck to Alexander Barabanov in the left face-off circle during a 2-on-1 rush, Carpenter put in the rebound for his fifth goal of the season. Klim Kostin made it a 2-0 lead for the Sharks off a pass by Mikel Granlund, who passed to him from behind the net and then scored from the edge of the crease.
Philipp Kurashev put the Blackhawks on the board late into the second at 5:58 for his 14th goal of the season. He took the puck after Tyler Johnson, who was at the right circle, sent it to the front and Kurashev redirected it past Devin Cooley.
Tying the game up 2-2 at 9:21 of the final frame, Ryan Donato recorded his 10th of the season. Taylor Raddysh gave a screen in front when Donato scored on a turnaround shot at the slot. Not long after Donato’s goal at 8:09, Kevin Korchinski stuck in his fourth goal of the season from the blue line with a one-timer… Joey Anderson pushed it 4-2 at 7:58 with a backhanded shot that had deflected in off Calen Addison. Connor Bedard beat the buzzer for his 21st, leading all rookies, goal of the season when he struck the empty net for the 5-2 final.
Lukas Reichel on the game overall: “Guys are battling for a spot in the team or for a contract, and we all want to win, it doesn’t matter where we are in the standings. They competed hard about up until the end, but those goals in the third period helped us a lot and gave us momentum.”
Kevin Korchinski on the Blackhawks’ recent wins: “Everybody here wants to win, everybody in the locker room wants to win. It feels better after the game, just in practices – just talking to the guys whenever we’re winning, it just feels better. So, it’s good to get that tonight, get that feeling, and just have a better game.”
Notes:
– The first three goals in the third period scored by Chicago were all scored in 83 seconds after finding themselves trailing in the first and second periods.
– Tyler Johnson has four points in four of his last five games (three goals, two assists)… Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev both had a goal and an assist, and Petr Mrazek made a total of 25 saves for Chicago.
Bedard’s empty-netter and secondary assist on Philipp Kurashev’s goal gave him his 12th multi-point game of the season. The only other active players to accomplish as many before the age of 19 are Sidney Crosby (29), Patrik Lane (20), Nathan MacKinnon (15), Jeff Skinner (14), and Sam Gagner (12).
– Ryan Donato had reached double-digit tallies for the third straight season.
– Three Stars of the Game: Kevin Korchinski, Ryan Donato, and Joey Anderson.
– Devin Cooley made a total of 26 saves in his NHL debut. He also became the first California-born goaltender, as well as the fifth California-born player, to appear in at least one game with the franchise. Cooley joins Sasha Chmelevski, Craig Coxe, Matt Nieto, and Scott Parker.
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