Younger Blackhawks put effort in, get win over Columbus

There are plenty of people out there who figure the injury-riddled, COVID-stricken Blackhawks are going to lie down at some point.

Throw up a stinker. Get blown out of the building. Let one loss become two, three, four and five.

Instead, the Hawks have become a resilient bunch of scrappy underdogs. True, they're not winning every night. But they are competing and making life miserable at times for their opponent.

It happened again at the United Center on Sunday as the Hawks defeated Columbus 3-1 thanks to 32 saves from Kevin Lankinen, a creative bank shot from rookie Pius Suter and a gritty, overall effort from Brandon Hagel, Reese Johnson, David Kampf, Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy and Lucas Carlsson.

"Obviously we're missing a few guys, but there's no sympathy in the league," said Colliton, whose team has five players in COVID-19 protocol. "We've got to find a way get it done anyways. Ton of credit to that group in there. They really competed hard."

Philipp Kurashev and Patrick Kane also scored for the Hawks (3-4-3).

Suter, who introduced himself to the NHL with a hat trick against Detroit last week, notched the game-winner with 12:19 remaining. After tracking down a loose puck behind the goal line, the rookie fired it at the backside of Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins. The unorthodox shot paid off when it bounced off Merzlikins and into the back of the net.

"Good bounce for the team and for me especially," said Suter, who leads all rookies with 4 goals.

Said Merzlikins: "I messed up big time. I take all the responsibility on my shoulders. I'm not going to go into excuses, but the luck wasn't on my side this time."

Kane scored after another misplay by Merzlikins behind the net. It came six minutes after Suter's tally.

Lankinen has allowed just 7 goals in his last five games, stopping 153 shots along the way for a .956 save percentage. At least a few of his saves Sunday came on deflected shots. His best, however, came when he turned away a breakaway attempt from Alexandre Teixer with 8:36 remaining and the Hawks ahead 2-1.

"That's the part when the goalie needs to step up and make the save," Lankinen said. "At the end of the day it makes the difference. I think goalie's the difference maker, and I definitely want to be the one who helps the team win and do whatever it takes to get there."

Kurashev put the Hawks on top at 12:32 of the first period thanks to an impressive play by Mattias Janmark. Janmark, proving to be one of the Hawks' most consistent forwards, patiently waited in the offensive zone, made a nifty pass to Kane in front of the net and then watched as Kane tapped the puck to Kurashev.

Kurashev now has 3 goals, while Kane has 4.

Johnson doled out 7 hits in his NHL debut and Carlsson gutted out 7:39 despite getting hit with a shot on his first shift. Duncan Keith took 6 shots on goal, and Murphy had 3 of the Hawks' 15 blocked shots.

Up next for the Hawks are the 5-1-0 Hurricanes. It will no doubt be their stiffest test yet.

But if they keep trending up, who knows? Maybe another surprise or two is around the corner.

"The outside impression of us as a team, it really doesn't matter," Colliton said. "Our priorities have got to be trying to get better, be relentless, be determined, protect each other with our work ethic and our decisions. And they're doing it. ...

"The older guys (are) leading the way and the younger guys (are) playing without fear, and coming in and being aggressive and being on their toes and seizing the opportunity that's there.

"We are getting better. The results, they're not perfect yet, but I think there's a lot to be excited about."