Teuvo Teravainen (Ronald C. Modra/GettyImages)
It took three tries, but the Chicago Blackhawks recorded their first victory of the season Saturday night. It was an impressive 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Free agent signee, Teuvo Teravainen filled up the score sheet, netting two goals and adding two assists. Second year phenom, Connor Bedard, also chipped in with a goal and collected two assists.
Hawks’ goalie, Peter Mrazek was also very strong, stopping 38 of 40 shots. Meanwhile, Oilers goalie, Calvin Picard allowed five goals on 20 Blackhawks’ shots. Maybe the Oilers should have gone with Jean-Luc Picard.
Another promising sign for the Blackhawks was they scored on three power plays.
The Blackhawks have started as well as could have been expected
While the Blackhawks lost their opener to Utah by a score of 5-2, they followed that up by losing a heartbreaker in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets Friday night. The Hawks led 1-0 going into the final minute of regulation before the Jets tied it up after pulling their goalie. The Jets then scored in overtime.
The bright spot out of the Hawks loss to the Jets was the play of goalie, Arvid Soderblom. Soderblom stopped 33 of 35 shots fired his way. He looked a lightyear better than he did last season.
Saturday’s win was a great palate cleaner for the Hawks.
The Blackhawks have a tough opening stretch to start their season. Their first four games were on the road. If they can get a point or two in Calgary against the Flames Tuesday night, it will be a great beginning to the season.
Where will the goals come from?
Last season the Blackhawks were dead last in the NHL in goals scored with 178. There was a desperate need to add some skill players to supplement Connor Bedard. Tevuo Teravainen immediately became the most skilled guy Bedard has played with. Free agent forward, Tyler Bertuzzi, was also added in the offseason, but hasn’t dented the scoresheet yet. He has three 20+ goal seasons on his resume.
Winger, Ilya Mikheyev, came over from the Canucks in a trade on what was somewhat of a salary dump. He allegedly has some scoring ability, but he also hasn’t scratched yet.
It would behoove the Hawks to surround Bedard with more guys who can put the puck in the net. He’s a tremendous playmaker, but that doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet because all too often his linemates have been Roberto Duran types. Hands of stone. I’d like to see no mas of that.
