Blackhawks guard goal, shine with effort, beat Canadiens 4-2 – Hockey Writers – NHL News

The showdown between the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens promises to be an interesting game. Considering the Blackhawks recently suffered an embarrassing 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in the New Year's Eve Winter Classic, the team has been trying to address issues that arose during its five-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens are on a three-game winning streak and have won seven of their last 10 games. The story of the game, however, was that Blackhawks rookie Colton Dach made his NHL debut against his older brother, former Blackhawks player Kirby Dach, and the pair It's fun for the team.

The most interesting thing, however, is the Blackhawks, who have two points on their hands at 4-2.

Battle gets off to a rocky start for Canadiens and Blackhawks

The Blackhawks were terrible at the Winter Classic, but that wasn't the case against Montreal. Both teams were very physical and energetic. During this period, there were 13 hit songs. The Blackhawks' Jason Dickinson had the most field goals (3) and Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson had the most field goals (2). Pat Maroon and Arber Xhekaj even got into a fight within the first six minutes of the game.

In addition to physical fitness, both goalkeepers are very strong. The Blackhawks took an early 1-0 lead after Frank Nazar converted two Montreal penalties, giving Chicago a full two minutes of five-on-three power play. Tyler Bertuzzi took advantage of this. However, Sam Montembeault blocked Jason Dickinson's A-grade chance and Arvid Soderblom held off Cole Caufield. Caufield's opportunity.

Caulfield, the Canadiens' top scorer, eventually tied the score at 1-1 after taking the lead alone.

The first quarter was a bit sloppy at times, with some missed opportunities and passes. Montreal took four penalties, but the game was entertaining.

Soderblom beats Montreal in second period

The second issue is the story of Montreal. Nick Foligno made it 2-1 on Wyatt Kaiser's shot, but Soderblom was inverted after that. He continues a strong season.

There are a lot of opportunities in Montreal. The final minute of the second period looked like a Canadiens power play, with the Hawks unable to get the puck out of the zone and Soderblom finishing with stops, including one on Habs captain Nick Suzuki Punch hard.

It looks like this game could be 4-2, or 5-2 Montreal. But the Blackhawks had their backup goaltender to thank for keeping the lead alive. Chicago did have some chances, such as Frank Nazar's chance, but Montreal had the better performance and huge advantage in the period, outshooting the Blackhawks 19-8.

Blackhawks make statement in third quarter

Just as Soderblom was the star of the second quarter, he was the star of the third, cementing the Blackhawks' win. Earlier in the game, the excellent rushing of Maroon, Craig Smith and Ryan Donato brought some security to the team and tied the game 3-1.

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However, the game got interesting after the Canadiens' Emil Heineman scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2. It looked like it might be another third-period collapse, but then Foligno scored again to make it 4-2 and put the nail in Montreal's coffin.

Montreal got another chance and had 40 shots in the game. Defenseman Alex Vlasic blocked a potential goal, but the Habs scored and the Blackhawks capitalized on their chance to win the game. Their lack of persistence of late paid off.

Colton Dach had a strong debut, allowing five shots and five hits in just over 11 minutes of playing time. Darren Pang said on the air that Bryant was joking after Colton took a cross-check penalty in the first quarter. It wasn't a “friendly” competition, but it was a family-friendly competition between the two brothers, which is exactly what Colton said their mom wanted.

The Blackhawks get the momentum they desperately need, and the Canadiens will quickly right their ship tomorrow night (Jan. 4) against the Colorado Avalanche.