DeBrincat's 40-footer puts Blackhawks up for good against Winnipeg
Any time the puck is on Alex DeBrincat's stick, opposing defensemen know they'd better close the gap in a hurry.
Blessed with one of the quickest releases and most accurate shots in the entire NHL, DeBrincat can make you pay from anywhere on the ice.
The 5-foot-7 forward proved that once again when he notched the game-winning goal in Winnipeg on Monday during a 3-1 Blackhawks victory.
With the score knotted at 1-1, DeBrincat picked up a loose puck at center ice with 10:21 remaining and raced into the offensive zone. As Jets defenseman Ville Heinola glided back, DeBrincat wasted no time in ripping off a 40-foot wrist shot that whizzed past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
It's the type of goal you just don't see very often, but not many players have DeBrincat's blazing speed, vision and deadeye shooting accuracy.
"What makes it so hard (is) he can fire it off so many different places around his body," said Hawks D-man Connor Murphy. "He seems to snap it harder than anyone, winding up when he can do it just off his front foot."
It was DeBricnat's 28th goal of the season.
Patrick Kane (12) and Brandon Hagel (14) also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves in net. Fleury registered an assist on Hagel's goal, an empty-netter with 56 seconds remaining. It looked like Fleury was attempting to score, but the puck ended up fluttering to Kane.
"I was hoping he was gonna go for it," said interim coach Derek King. "Because even if he didn't we would have beat the icing out.
"Sometimes coaches cringe on that. ... But it was a good pass. It was a good heads-up play by him."
Fleury was incredible all night, barely keeping a few pucks out of the net with a late lunge or a last-second stretch. His most impressive stop came on an Adam Lowry breakaway in the second period.
"His flexibility is insane," Murphy said. "I don't know how he stays so limber. I'm not gonna call him old, but staying so limber throughout a lengthy career is impressive."
Kane opened the scoring by firing a shot that went through Hellebuyck's legs at 10:21 of the second period. It was his fifth goal in the last 13 games.
The Hawks, who were blown out 5-1 in St. Louis on Saturday, ended up going 2-1-0 on their three-game road trip. They are now 18-24-7 overall and open a six-game homestand when they take on Columbus on Thursday.
"That was a solid road win for us," King said. "The guys rebounded and played great."