Take A Look To The Sky Just Before You Die: Blackhawks 4, Lightning 1
The Blackhawks played possibly their best road game of the entire season in defeating the Lightning 4-1 in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
The Bolts struck first (wink) with 3:30 gone in the opening period when Nikita Kucherov won a board battle against Alex Vlasic behind the Blackhawks net and found Brayden Point as he was streaking into the slot:
Tampa Bay goal!Scored by Brayden Point with 16:26 remaining in the 1st period.Assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel.Tampa Bay: 1Chicago: 0#CHIvsTBL #GoBolts #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/6FdT9GwWUF— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 29, 2025
With 8:24 gone in the second period, the Blackhawks were given 1:37 of 5-on-3 power play time, and in the dying seconds of the second penalty Connor Bedard took matters into his own hands and ripped a DISGUSTING wrist shot from an impossible angle that beat Jonas Johansson over his shoulder and tied the game at one:
You need to check out this shot by Connor Bedard…WOW! 😱 pic.twitter.com/RBwjwt2LuM— NHL (@NHL) January 29, 2025
With just under two minutes left, Lukas Reichel dropped a pass back to Landon Slaggert on the rush, and Slaggert beat Johansson with a perfectly placed snapshot to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead:
Chicago goal!Scored by Landon Slaggert with 01:46 remaining in the 2nd period.Assisted by Lukas Reichel.Tampa Bay: 1Chicago: 2#CHIvsTBL #GoBolts #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/LFHeJvlY1W— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 29, 2025
With eight minutes gone in the third period, a Seth Jones blast bounced hard off the boards and left a juicy rebound (and wide open net) for Ryan Donato to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead:
Chicago goal!Scored by Ryan Donato with 11:58 remaining in the 3rd period.Assisted by Seth Jones and Philipp Kurashev.Tampa Bay: 1Chicago: 3#CHIvsTBL #GoBolts #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/9KLZ0wKprj— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 29, 2025
Jon Cooper pulled Johansson for the extra attacker with just under four minutes left in the game, but the Blackhawks held fast and Teuvo Teravinen scored an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left to seal the 4-1 win:
Empty net goal for Chicago!Scored by Teuvo Teravainen with 00:57 remaining in the 3rd period.Assisted by Jason Dickinson.Tampa Bay: 1Chicago: 4#CHIvsTBL #GoBolts #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/z7j127hmGg— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 29, 2025
Game over, man. Game over.
Notes
This was the first Blackhawks road win since Dec. 9, which also just happened to be Anders Sorensen’s first win as an NHL coach. It was also, dare I say, a really fun game to watch outside of a lot of bullshit posturing in the first period, which we’ll get to in a minute.
The game certainly looked like it could go off the rails fast as Tampa not only scored within the first four minutes but also had the first five shots (three of which were high-danger chances), and were gifted (by the Blackhawks, not the refs) three consecutive power plays to close out the period. Why did they get three straight power plays? So glad you asked!
This was Nick Foligno’s second straight game with an idiotic penalty that benefited his team in no way, shape or form. The Step Dad train has officially left the station, folks, and I’m ready for Foligno to pack up whatever his brand of “leadership” is and shuffle off into the sunset. Jonathan Toews is my real dad. No, I don’t want to go to the water park with you.
Not to be outdone, Pat Maroon decided to one up Foligno by first boarding Luke Glendening, and then trying to fight him, gifting the league’s fourth-ranked power play four straight minutes to work.
Pat Maroon: also getting more unhinged by the day. Tampa getting a 4-minute PP now after he's tagged for boarding and unsportsmanlike. https://t.co/qUbw6hWPhR— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 29, 2025
Surely Maroon isn’t really that unhinged, though?
Patrick Maroon is NOT happy. "I'm going to f***ing kill you … watch." 😳 pic.twitter.com/uOLsxFPDie— Cork Gaines, Ph.D. (@CorkGaines) January 29, 2025
CAN’T STOP THE BIG RIG WHEN HE’S ROLLING DOWN HILL, AMIRITE?!?
Victor Hedman fulfilling his duties as captain against Pat Maroon. pic.twitter.com/BSCLCQKDtg— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) January 29, 2025
Unless you’re actually his size, then apparently he doesn’t have too much to say.
The extracurriculars by Foligno and Maroon started because they took exception to some big, early hits on Bedard and Frank Nazar. Good thing they both put their (I’m assuming incredibly hairy) feet down, because that totally stopped Michael Eyssimont from lining up Bedard for a cheap shot along the boards after Bedard hooked Erik Cernak in the third period.
Good on the Blackhawks who managed to actually stay on the ice, and killed off the resulting penalties. Neither Foligno or Maroon missed a single shift after, by the way. But keep sitting the kids. Is that the type of “physical presence” you’re looking for from Colton Dach, Anders?
I feel like it’s been evident for a while, but Arvid Soderblom is absolutely the Blackhawks number one goaltender now. I will take no further questions.
Arvid Soderblom: “I feel confident, I feel calm, and that’s when you play your best — when you just go out there having fun and not really thinking too much.”He said this was his favorite of his 34 saves: pic.twitter.com/tbzZ7bjKYq— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 29, 2025
Bedard has 29 points in his last 29 games, and it feels like he’s getting more dangerous by the second. It’s one thing to be able to even see that opening, but it’s a completely different skill set to not only have the balls to take that shot, but to actually hit that spot as well. It’s a word that gets completely overused, but that goal was amazing. If Bedard ends up in the HHOF one day, that will absolutely be on his reel. Thoughts and prayers to Jonas Johansson and his family.
CONNOR BEDARD. HOW ?!!?!?!?!?!!? pic.twitter.com/KybpzBsyHE— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 29, 2025
Andrei Vasilevskiy, and his perfect 13-0 regulation record against the Hawks (2015 SCF forever), was scratched right before the game because of illness, which not only gave us an EBUG situation on Tampa’s bench, but also proved to me that Vasilevskiy absolutely owns a time machine and wanted no part of that Bedard highlight.
Credit where it’s due: Seth Jones played a fantastic game. There was some talk on the broadcast about his foot finally being fully healed, and don’t look now, but he’s got two goals, six assists, and 13 blocks in his last six games.
And while the goal was nice, it’s hard not to walk away extremely impressed with Slaggert tonight. His speed and effort was evident every single shift, and he certainly brings his own element to a team that desperately needs to play faster.
Game Charts
Three Stars
Arvid Soderblom (CHI) — 34 saves
Connor Bedard (CHI) — THE GOD OF SHARP-ANGLED FLORIDA GOALS
Seth Jones (CHI) — 2 Assists
What’s Next
The Blackhawks take on the Hurricanes, along with their brand-new additions of Mikko Rantanen and old buddy Taylor Hall, in Raleigh on Thursday at 6 p.m. CST....
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