January might seem a little early for “must-win” games, but the Chicago Blackhawks cannot afford to fall to lesser opponents. The Detroit Red Wings managed a 2-0 lead on Sunday, yet Chicago rallied to win 4-2.
Kane delivers as usual for the Blackhawks
Hyping up Red Wings - Blackhawks as a battle of two teams trying to build for the future makes sense.
Sure, Patrick Kane leads the way for Chicago. Kane remains far-and-away the driving force of the Blackhawks’ offense, generating his 54th point of the season when he assisted on the first goal of Dylan Sikura’s NHL career:
But as dominant as Kane is in the present, youngsters drove both sides’ successes.
Red Wings, Blackhawks can look on bright spots for future
First, Filip Zadina scored the 1-0 power-play goal. The sixth pick of the 2018 NHL Draft -- who many picked to go fourth or even third instead -- stumbled a bit during his development, including dealing with injuries. Shots like that goal remind that he has plenty of time to succeed, and Zadina is delivering reasonably overall, generating 10 points in 18 games so far this season.
Fresh faces paced the Blackhawks’ comeback, too.
Two Dylans scored in just 45 seconds during the second period. Dylan Strome (third in 2015) continues to be a nice point-producer for Chicago, collecting the 2-1 tally. Then, it was that Dylan Sikura goal. Promising defenseman Adam Boqvist (eighth in 2018) ended up producing the game-winner, his second goal of 2019-20.
The sexier Dominik Kubalik goal could have happened after Duncan Keith sprung him for a breakaway, but Jimmy Howard narrowly avoided that with a save. Kubalik instead scored an empty-netter, giving him 12 on the season, second among all rookies.
Sports fans love to imagine potential magically turning into production, but that doesn’t always work out. Sikura, for example, took 44 games to score his first NHL goal.
Still, if a few of the Kubaliks, Stromes, and Zadinas work out, both franchises might be able to wiggle out of these post-dynasty stupors.
The Blackhawks made sure that there’s at least a slight chance that they might end their playoff drought in 2019-20 by not losing to a Red Wings team that, scrappy or not, can’t seem to protect a lead. Sunday represents what they hope is the start of a strong homestand, and playoff push.
—
James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.