The San Jose Sharks are the worst of the three California teams these days, so losing to them didn’t do the Chicago Blackhawks any good. They knew a big rebound would be needed to beat the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
The Kings hosted Chicago on Saturday night and the Hawks triumphed in a courageous comeback effort. That set the stage for them to try and get a second win in Southern California with the Ducks set to host.
Anaheim outshot Chicago 8-1, but Arvid Soderblom remained strong in the Hawk net. Chicago then scored first at 12:57, although they were outplayed until then. Isaak Phillips scored his first goal of the season after Connor Bedard gave him room to shoot.
Teuvo Teravainen scored a power play goal a few minutes later to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Taylor Hall makes a nice pass to find Teravainen who doesn’t miss. Alex Vlasic had an assist on the goal as he looked good as the quarterback on the power play.
In the second period, Seth Jones scored the only goal of the period to make it 3-0. Connor Bedard t-shirted him for Jones to unleash his explosion. Lukas Reichel, who has been exceptional of late, also had an assist on the play.
Anaheim’s Brock McGinn cut Chicago’s lead midway through the third period. The Hawks finally sealed the victory when Ryan Donato scored a goal thanks to some hard play from him and Bédard in front of the net. Mason McTavish found a goal with two seconds left, making the final score 4-2.
The story of this game, much like the previous game, was how the goaltenders kept Chicago in the game until they found their legs. After asking Petr Mrazek to make 37 saves on 40 shots the night before, Arvid Soderblom made 37 saves on 39 shots.
Before the weekend even started, Chicago let it be known that Petr Mrazek would be facing the Kings and he was awesome. Arvid Soderblom was named the starter for this Anaheim game, which marked his first start in seven games despite playing well in limited action.
Soderblom answered the bell in striking fashion with all of these saves. He kept the Hawks early, he kept them ahead late, and he deserves praise for it. There’s no longer any reason for him to sit out six straight games. He may still be Mrazek’s backup, but he deserves a chance to continue to prove himself.
Without their goaltenders, the Hawks wouldn’t leave Southern California with two wins. They played a little better overall against Anaheim but Soderblom was the star.
The Blackhawks now have a few days off, but both of these goalies will be needed this week. They have another back-to-back as they host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday before a trip to the Dallas Stars on Thursday. If they get that level of goaltending back, they’ll have a chance.
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