CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks were defeated at the United Center by the red-hot Minnesota Wild. This win came after holding a 2-0 lead with one minute remaining in the second period.
Goals scored by Jason Dickinson and Connor Bedard gave Chicago the 2-0 lead, but they eventually let it slip away as the game went along.
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With under 14 seconds remaining in the middle frame, a Brock Faber shot found its way through traffic to beat Spencer Knight. That 2-1 lead for the Blackhawks went to the intermission, but the Wild tied it just 2:17 into the third period. Nico Sturm’s first of the season knotted things up at one.
At 5:31, Artyom Levshunov scored his first career NHL goal to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead. He put a beautiful move on Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson after receiving a perfect pass from Connor Bedard.
The lead, once again, couldn’t hold. Matt Boldy tied the game at 10:35, which would eventually lead to overtime. The 3-on-3 didn’t last very long as Ilya Mikheyev took a controversial penalty to give the Wild a power play.
Connor Bedard was flattened by Joel Eriksson Ek, who was then hit hard by Mikheyev. The officials gave Mikheyev an interference penalty.
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After the game, Bedard didn’t have a problem with the hit or the call. He said the hit on him was “super clean”. He also admitted that he didn’t believe there was an issue with the officials, saying that their job is not always easy.
Jeff Blashill, on the other hand, didn’t have the same mindset. Despite Mikheyev making the hit because he hit Bedard, Blashill believes that it was the wrong call.
“Right before Eriksson Ek got hit, he had the puck,” said Blashill. “It’s not a penalty.” Chicago’s new head coach has no problem critiquing the officiating if he feels it was a wrong call.
The Blackhawks had no answers when asked about lead protection, and that’s just something that they are going to have to keep working on if they want to earn more points in the standings. Although Blashill may be right with the penalty, it wasn’t the officials who blew a 2-0 lead.
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What’s Next For Chicago?
The Chicago Blackhawks will have a home game on the evening of Black Friday. The Nashville Predators will be in town as Chicago debuts their newly remodeled black sweaters. All fans in attendance are encouraged to dress in all black in order to create a blackout environment.
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