Any questions about Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek’s ability to deliver back-to-back solid seasons have been answered this fall. He definitely can, and he appears on his way to doing so.
That’s why Mrazek’s miscue Friday, handing the Wild what turned out to be the game-winning goal in their 3-2 victory over the Hawks, stood out so much. The veteran goalie has committed very few, if any, blunders like that over the past two years.
Jared Spurgeon’s wrist shot from 59 feet out late in the second period overpowered Mrazek’s weak attempt at a glove save and went in, dealing the Hawks their 13th loss in their last 14 meetings against the Wild and their seventh consecutive loss in Minnesota.
“Unfortunately they got that bounce on the third goal, and we didn’t shoot and attack enough to get one of those ourselves,” coach Luke Richardson told reporters at Xcel Energy Center.
Spurgeon, who entered the day with zero goals this season, was actually the beneficiary of two lucky breaks. He tied the game midway through the second period — erasing a 2-0 lead the Hawks had built with two Ryan Donato goals — with a whack into the crease that bounced in off the skates of Hawks defenseman Connor Murphy, who seems to be victimized by own-goals like that twice as often as any other Hawk.
“We’ve been playing well the last couple games, and sometimes the other teams are going to get bounces, too,” Donato told reporters. “It’s infuriating and it’s hard to lose games and have it be that way especially, when you get off to a good start.”
The officiating in the third period was erratic. Donato and Murphy were both whistled for baffling penalties, killing valuable time, but then a Wild empty-net goal was waved off due to a nonsensical icing call, giving the Hawks one last gasp that Connor Bedard nearly converted.
Bedard, in general, looked more confident and dangerous, building upon his monkey-off-the-back goal Wednesday. He recorded seven shot attempts, including four on goal, and one assist.
The Hawks have led in the second period in each of their last five games, but they’ve gone just 2-2-1 during that relatively good stretch.
“It’s easy to start off the game and have some momentum when the game is flowing, but it’s hard to bear down when things go a little astray,” Murphy told reporters. “We just have to know it’s going to be hard and not give in like we did and sometimes do.”
In net, Mrazek finished with 26 saves on 29 shots — hardly a disastrous stat line, despite the one gaffe. He has allowed three goals or fewer in 15 of 17 starts this season — a level of consistency that has kept the Hawks in close game after close game, even though they haven’t won that many of them.
Among 62 goalies with at least six appearances this season, Mrazek’s .911 save percentage ranks 18th. He’s following up a .907 mark from last season, which came behind a far more porous Hawks defense than this one. He has saved 5.1 more goals than expected, based on the quality and quantity of shots faced; he ranks 13th in the NHL in that category, per Natural Stat Trick.
And to confirm how rarely he’s beaten by shots that should be saved, he also ranks 13th with a .972 save percentage against low-danger shots, having stopped 204 of 210.
Mrazek and backup-for-now Arvid Soderblom will likely split the starts in the Hawks’ upcoming back-to-back set: Sunday against the Blue Jackets and Monday against the Maple Leafs.