Blackhawks continue to defy post-deadline expectations, beat Bruins 6-3
After GM Kyle Davidson traded away Patrick Kane, Max Domi, Sam Lafferty, Jake McCabe and Jack Johnson, many of us figured the Blackhawks were in deep trouble.
No way was this underwhelming group going to keep up with the likes of Ottawa, Detroit, Florida and Tampa Bay.
But instead of a boatload of embarrassing losses, the Hawks beat the Senators 5-0, held third-period leads over the Red Wings and Panthers, and were tied with the Lightning until the game's final minute.
While the odds were stacked against the Hawks in those games, they were positively mountainous with the Boston Bruins in town Tuesday.
Was there any way a roster dotted with AHL and/or bottom-tier NHL talent could compete with a 50-win team? One that includes David Pastrnak (46 goals), Patrice Bergeron (24 goals, 60% on faceoffs), Brad Marchand (20 goals) and goaltender Linus Ullmark (33-5-1)?
Turns out yes. And not only did the Hawks hold their own, they pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in the NHL this season with a 6-3 victory.
Taylor Raddysh tied the game at 3-3 at 3:55 of the third period, gave the Hawks a 5-3 lead at 16:08 and notched the hat trick by scoring into an empty net at 19:15. Raddysh has 6 goals in the last four games and a team-high 20 on the season.
Boris Katchouk (goal, 2 assists), Joey Anderson (goal, assist) and Mackenzie Entwistle (goal, 4 hits) also had big games.
With about two minutes remaining, an "Overrated! Overrated!" chant broke out in the 300 level of the UC.
"That was awesome," Raddysh said. "It's a cool feeling that you get excited for and you want to see every night. I feel like when we bring efforts like that, we're gonna get it. We just want to continue to keep growing and keep doing that."
The Hawks (23-38-6) played inspired hockey all night, with Connor Murphy blocking a shot on a first-period power play; Entwistle backchecking hard to prevent a second-period scoring chance; Raddysh tying up Matt Grzeicyk's stick near the crease to prevent a goal; and netminder Petr Mrázek making several stunning saves.
"The work ethic has been consistent all year," Richardson said. "We're feeding off the home crowd now and the crowd's feeding off us. ... Especially since the new year, it's really been fun here."
Mrázek (16 saves, no goals allowed) had to leave midway through the second period and was replaced by Alex Stalock. Mrázek will be checked out Wednesday and is likely to miss at least a few days.
The most inexperienced Hawks on this night included Lukas Reichel (22nd NHL game), Mike Hardman (30th), Buddy Robinson (55th), Ian Mitchell (75th), Anderson (81st) and Entwistle (112th). All told, the Hawks' lineup included nine players with under 150 games of NHL experience.
Knowing that, it seemed like the Hawks would fold when Boston grabbed a 3-2 lead at 3:02 of the third period on a goal by Pavel Zacha. Instead, Raddysh knotted things up just 53 seconds later, and Katchouk zipped home his fourth goal with 13:01 remaining to give the Hawks a stunning 4-3 lead.
Boston kept pushing and nearly tied it at 4-4 on a power play, with a shot clanging off both posts. After that, it was all Hawks.
"They're a team. That's the key word, is 'team,'" Richardson said when asked how his squad manages to compete against all odds. "That started from Day One at training camp. Talked to Jonathan (Toews) and Patrick (Kane) and Seth (Jones) in the summer, the captains. And then we had a bit of a leadership group with guys that have been around for a while. ... Relaying the message from the coaching staff and the organization of what we want to do here, they've done a great job (of that).
"There's days where the coaching staff is like, 'Well, maybe we don't want to give them another day off.' But when they come to us and say they're a little bit gassed, we listen and we trust they're gonna push them the next morning skate to get them going again.
"It's worked. And there's great communication. I believe in that ... and it only works if the other side believes as well. So there's a lot of belief in that room."