Blackhawks get past Capitals 5-4 in overtime
The Blackhawks certainly had plenty of motivation going into Wednesday night's game against Washington at the United Center.
Not only was there a moving pregame ceremony to commemorate Marc-Andre Fleury's 500th career victory, but Troy Murray - who has been battling cancer since August - made a triumphant return to the radio booth and called the entire game.
Of course, motivation is one thing. Going out and using it is another.
The Hawks were dreadfully flat for 30-plus minutes, falling behind the play and passing up or completely blowing Grade A scoring chances.
Then, wham: In the blink of an eye, the entire script flipped.
• Alex DeBrincat made it 1-1 by burying a one-timer with 6:05 remaining in the second period.
• Eighteen seconds later Philipp Kurashev tapped the puck through goalie Ilya Samsonov's legs.
• Then, incredibly - wham! - MacKenzie Entwhistle made it 3-1 just 16 seconds later.
That's 3 goals in 34 seconds. The flurry - tied for the 23rd fastest 3-goal explosion in NHL history - helped propel the Hawks (11-15-2) to a 5-4 overtime victory over the Capitals. The Hawks prevailed when Caleb Jones scored 1:21 into overtime after pouncing on a rebound on a shot by Kirby Dach.
"It was crazy," Jones said of the rapid-fire scoring. "That was a really loud building and we were just kind of feeding off the momentum. It was deafening in there."
"Definitely one of the louder times I've heard (the United Center)," said DeBrincat, who scored again with 5:00 remaining to make it 4-3. "Scoring those goals that quick, it's really exciting for us on the bench, and I'm sure the fans in the building."
The win didn't come easy, though, as Washington (17-5-7) made it 4-4 on a goal by Conor Sheary with just three seconds left. That tally could have deflated the Hawks, but they stayed with it and pulled out a hard-earned win.
Fleury's special night began when his teammates took to the ice for warmups with '500' stitched onto their jerseys. It continued with a pregame ceremony that featured an impressive video tribute, a massive '500' sign made out of flowers and a goalie mask that included the logos of Fleury's three NHL teams - the Penguins, Golden Knights and Blackhawks.
Fleury's wife and three kids joined him on the ice.
Video tributes poured in from Fleury's mom and sister, former Penguins teammates Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz, former Golden Knights teammates Ryan Reaves, Mark Stone and Malcolm Subban, and Hawks teammates Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Kevin Lankinen.
"It was really touching to see," said Fleury, who made 42 saves. "Many of my friends and old teammates and old guys I love playing with. ...
"Big thank you to the Chicago organization for everything they've done for me to make today special. To the fans, too. ...
"I'm a very fortunate guy to do what I love and to have such a great family with awesome kids."
Goal! Goal! Goal!
Fastest 3 goals in Blackhawks history:
• 21 seconds on March 23, 1952. All 3 scored by Bill Mosienko
• 30 seconds on October 15, 1983 by Denis Savard, Steve Larmer and Savard
• 34 seconds on March 19, 2017 by Jonathan Toews, Richard Panik and Artemi Panarin
• 34 seconds on December 15, 2021 by Alex DeBrincat, Philipp Kurashev & MacKenzie Entwistle