Patrick Kane, Blackhawks fight past Hurricanes to end Carolina’s 5-game winning streak
The Carolina Hurricanes felt fortunate to beat the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, winning in a shootout.
The Canes weren’t so fortunate Thursday at the United Center, losing to the Blackhawks 6-4 and coming away after the game knowing all too well why their five-game winning streak ended.
“To me, it was the special teams that lost it for us tonight,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “If you can’t kill penalties you’re not going to win.”
No second-guessing that simple point. The Blackhawks scored three power-play goals in the first period, killed off all four of their penalties in the game and got enough big saves in net from goalie Kevin Lankinen for the victory.
“We were bad again today,” defenseman Dougie Hamilton said. “We didn’t play how we want to play, our identity.
“We were definitely sloppy. We gave up a lot of breakaways. Our power play was very bad. Our PK was very bad. It’s hard to win when you have those things. We didn’t adjust to their game and we didn’t get to our game.”
The Canes (6-2-0), who have lost goalie Petr Mrazek for an indefinite period with a thumb injury, had a few more scary moments Thursday. Defenseman Brett Pesce took a puck in the face in the first period and left the ice bleeding. Then, late in the third, forward Martin Necas took a big, clean hit from defenseman Calvin de Haan and banged his head.
Pesce was able to return to the game. Necas, who was helped off the ice, will be further evaluated, Brind’Amour said.
“Those head things you never know what’s going to happen,” he said.
It was a big night for the Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane, who has had a few big ones in his career. Kane, always a threat with the puck on his stick, had a goal and three assists. Combine that with a goal and two assists from Dominik Kubalik and it was more than enough offense for the Blackhawks (4-4-4).
Some hard work below the goal line by Kane resulted in Alex DeBrincat scoring the go-ahead goal at 12:22 of the third. Kane collected a loose puck and centered it to Pius Suter, with DeBrincat bolting in backdoor to bang in a rebound.
DeBrincat’s empty net goal with 13 seconds left clinched it.
Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and assist for the Canes and Aho was denied a few times by Lankinen, who had 30 saves. Aho scored 75 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead, and Nino Niederreiter and Svechnikov both scored in the first minute of the second period to tie the score.
But the Canes’ spotty and less-than-aggressive penalty killing was costly. Mattias Janmark and Kubalik also had first-period power-play goals before Shaw’s late strike.
Kane scored at even strength early in the third for a 4-3 lead but the Canes’ Brock McGinn tied it with a shot from the low slot.
Blackhawks won with speed, skill
“They’re a fast team and they stretched us out and they’ve got skill,” Brind’Amour said. “What happened was we got sucked into that game and that’s not the game we want to play.
“Our mental approach wasn’t right tonight, the way we’ve got to play. You saw it in spurts but it’s got to be consistent to win in the NHL and it wasn’t there tonight.”
Goalie James Reimer faced 34 shots and allowed five goals. He also made some terrific saves but the Canes’ were too loose in the defensive zone and the Blackhawks too quick to pucks.
“It’s not how we want to play this game,” Aho said. “There’s no easy games in this league. We weren’t ready from the start and that can’t happen.”
NHL adds COVID safeguards
The NHL announced new COVID protocols and preventative measures Thursday that the league believes can help stop the transmission and spread of the coronavirus.
The league said shielding behind the benches would be removed to allow more air flow during games, and the glass behind the benches was gone Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago.
The NHL asked that virtual team meetings be held as much as possible. The league is asking that additional locker room space be provided for both home teams and visiting teams in arenas to increase social distancing, with player stalls six feet apart.
“It’ll be an adjustment tonight, and probably for the next little while, while we work out the kinks on all that,” Brind’Amour said on a Thursday media call. “But at the end of the day when the puck drops we’ve got to go play.”
The Canes have had six players on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list and had a nine-day COVID pause in the season. All now have returned to the team and forward Jesper Fast, the last to be removed from the list, is skating again and should play soon, Brind’Amour said Thursday.
“It’s hard to avoid everywhere,” Brind’Amour said of the virus. “We’re doing the best we can. We try to limit the contact as much as possible as everybody tells you to do, but it’s still hard to avoid.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 7:37 PM.
