LOS ANGELES — After so many close losses and fruitless extra-attacker sequences so far this season, the Blackhawks believed they were due for something to go their way.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday. They overcame an overall poor performance by rallying to beat the Kings 4-3 in a shootout.
“We know we can and need to play better, but to find a way to come back in this game and get it done is a testament to the guys in here — and honestly probably to the hockey gods, too,” captain Nick Foligno said. “We probably deserved to win in San Jose and didn’t. Here we probably didn’t, but we got the win.”
That Thursday defeat against the Sharks was particularly painful; it mentally weighed on the team over the past two days. In it, they held their own in the first two periods and dominated the third period against the NHL’s worst team but couldn’t break through.
Saturday followed a similar pattern, just scaled down greatly. The Hawks were lifeless throughout the first two periods, during which they were outshot 23-8 and outscored 2-0. They were scrappy but hardly commanding in the third period, during which they were outshot 12-11. But three of those 11 shots went in, leading to a much different outcome.
Nick Foligno followed up a shot that squeaked through Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper to get the Hawks on the board, and Lukas Reichel orchestrated a beautiful rush to set up a Craig Smith goal two minutes later.
After the hosts retook the lead, Hawks coach Luke Richardson sent out Ryan Donato — whom he had promoted into a much bigger role because of his recent hot streak — during the six-on-five sequence, and Donato fed Tyler Bertuzzi in the crease to tie the game with 30 seconds left.
“Our team really responded in the third,” Richardson said. “We’re lucky that Petr [Mrazek] kept us in it at 2-0 up to that point. So [it’s a] good lesson. We’ve got to make sure we have our skating legs right out of the gate, because that team really put it to us in the first half.”
The Hawks made an adjustment in the third period to send their breakouts up the weak (rather than strong) side, Richardson said. That helped them more effectively penetrate the Kings’ tight neutral-zone structure, which has changed from a 1-3-1 to a 1-2-2 this year but has historically stifled them.
The Kings controlled possession during most of overtime but couldn’t score on Mrazek, who finished with 37 saves. In the shootout — the Hawks’ first since January — all three shooters (Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Donato) converted to give the Hawks just their third win in 14 trips to Los Angeles since 2014.
“We talked about it: you can’t play this game without being emotionally engaged,” Foligno said. “[The Kings] were ready to go and we weren’t, and we tiptoed in.
‘Once guys got emotionally engaged in the game, we started playing the way we need to play. It wasn’t perfect, but that’s OK; we’re looking for results right now. It matters to know how to win.”
The Hawks continued their pattern of competitiveness; they’ve been within one goal in the third period in all but one game this season. They needed a result like this, though, after talking repeatedly about no longer accepting moral victories. Their 4-7-1 record still isn’t pretty, but their minus-six goal differential is actually better than quite a few teams.
They’ve now won two of their last three games — with the one loss being the Sharks contest, which was statistically one of their best performances — entering the trip finale Sunday against the Ducks.
As they seek a November turnaround, that’s not exactly a large and firm foundation to build upon, but it’s something.