Encore: Blackhawks again beat Stars 2-1 in OT
When we spoke with Mattias Janmark last week, the Blackhawks forward was truly looking forward to returning to Dallas to take on his former teammates.
What transpired over the past three days, however, had to exceed even his wildest dreams.
Not only did the Hawks win the first contest 2-1 in overtime Sunday, but they duplicated that feat in an encore performance Tuesday that included a game-tying goal from Janmark in the second period.
"It's all I could ask for coming in," Janmark said of the two-game sweep over the team that was the Western Conference's representative in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. "Felt really good, especially winning and scoring."
The feisty, resilient Hawks prevailed when Pius Suter scored the game-winner off a feed from Brandon Hagel with 2:45 remaining. Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves in net and actually recorded the secondary assist on Suter's goal.
The Hawks are now 6-4-4 overall and 6-1-3 in their last 10 games.
They won Tuesday despite being thoroughly outplayed for most of the first two periods. But Lankinen stepped up again and the Hawks found a way to win a game that easily could have turned into a Stars blowout.
"The number one thing I take pride in is the resiliency and the fight and the relentlessness," Colliton said. "To me that's how you build a team. You're always in it. You're never out of it. You never give up.
"You're gonna face adversity throughout the year; you're gonna face adversity in games. If you have that makeup then you're gonna have a chance."
Three of Lankinen's biggest stops came early in the second period when he turned away breakaway attempts by Blake Comeau and Denis Gurianov. The rookie netminder has a remarkable .944 save percentage in his last eight games.
"It's really fun times to be around at the rink, to be around the boys," Lankinen said. "Everybody knows what they're expected to do and everybody's bought into this project. It's exciting."
Janmark scored his fifth goal of the season on the power play by redirecting a pass from Dominik Kubalik. It tied the game at 1-1 at 14:04 of the second period.
The Stars pushed hard late in the third, but to no avail.
The OT winner was a thing of beauty as Hagel put on the brakes after crossing the offensive blue line, wove into the middle of the offensive zone and slid the puck to a charging Suter.
Suter then went backhand-forehand and fired the puck into the net.
"I actually didn't know it was in until I heard Hayg's screaming," said Suter, who now has 5 goals.
Four rookies were on the ice for the game-winner: Hagel, Suter, Lankinen and D-man Ian Mitchell.
"They're building confidence and we're building confidence in them," Colliton said. "They understand key moments in the game and how we've got to play. We need them to be able to step forward and do those things.
"Couple real big plays (at the end). Excellent backcheck by Mitchell. Strong on the puck by Hagel - he skates it 200 feet with a guy on his back. A very intelligent play to free up Suter and then a very skilled play to score. ...
"It's fun to watch."
Defenseman Connor Murphy missed the game with a hip injury. Colliton didn't have a timeline for how long he might be out.
Boqvist update:
Adam Boqvist did contract COVID-19, according to coach Jeremy Colliton. Boqvist, who was taken out of COVID protocol Monday, has been able to skate, but Colliton isn't sure when the defenseman will return to game action. The Hawks host Columbus on Thursday and Saturday.
He said it:
"We told him he had to pay for it, so he was a little nervous."
- Andrew Shaw when asked if anyone gave Philipp Kurashev a hard time after the rookie forward broke a pane of glass at Dallas' arena during practice Monday
He said it II:
"Very annoying. I just found it was interfering with my vision. I haven't worn it for 10 years so tried to get used to it; couldn't do it. So I got rid of it."
- Andrew Shaw on why he is no longer wearing a face shield