‘Blankinen’ Begins
Lankinen logs first career shutout in win over Wings
As far as rivalry reboots go, the Chicago Blackhawks have to love how this one has started against the Detroit Red Wings.
The Hawks’ 2-0 win Wednesday not only gave the them their first shutout of the season — and the first of Kevin Lankinen’s career — but secured the two-game road sweep against the renewed Central Division foe. They’re 4-0 versus the Red Wings with four games to go.
While it’s quaint nostalgia to put it in the context of two Original Six teams who used to duke it out in the Norris Division, it’s a good bet the Hawks are thinking only about what it means in terms of their current standings.
“We’re getting better but we’ve got to continue to have that mindset that we’re going to improve as the year goes on,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “We’re not a finished product. We’re not going to be a finished product. We believe we’re on our way to being an excellent team and it’s not just going to happen.
“We have to make it happen with our mentality and work ethic. It’s hard to do the right thing every time we’re on the ice, but that’s what we need to do.”
Here are two takeaways from the game.
1. Philipp Kurashev surprised himself with a breakaway power-play goal: Certainly the Red Wings’ penalty kill looked as ifit was caught off guard in the second period.
Goalie Kevin Lankinen dropped the puck for Duncan Keith, who skated behind the net and pushed it to Kurashev in the neutral zone. Kurashev turned on the jets, juked his through three defenders — including
passing it back to himself under Troy Stecher’s stick — and poked it past Red Wings goalie Jonathan Bernier.
“I had the easiest assist of my career with that,” Lankinen joked. “Duncan made a good play to make the pass to Phil. Phil was the big star on that one. He’s going to end up in the highlights with that, one he’ll remember for a long time and we’ll remember for a long time too. He took the team on his shoulders and cracked a barrier, so that’s huge.”
Kurashev’s nifty moves may might have stunned the Red Wings, but did the rookie forward /also/ surprise himself?
“A little bit, yeah,” he said. “I made the move and saw I had some space for a breakaway, so I tried to do the move and I scored, so that was good.”
Coach Jeremy Colliton called Kurashev a “pretty skilled player” who has displayed those offensive skills on during practice, but as far as actual games are concerned, Kurashev said: “I don’t know if it ever worked to score a goal, but I like to sometimes do some moves, to try them out.
“It was nice that it worked for once.”
2. Kevin ‘Blankinen’ crossed off an important milestone on his list: Seven minutes, 38 seconds.
When Lankinen faced the Red Wings on Jan. 22 in
his second career start, he almostsecured his first shutout — but Dylan Larkin’s goal spoiled it with 7:38 left in the game.
The Red Wings on Wednesday came heavy in the middle of the third period with four shots on goal in the power play, then another four goals in a five-minute span, including Bobby Ryan hitting the goalpost when Lankinen was far out of the net.
Sometimes you need a little luck too.
Good defense also helps: The Hawks blocked 15 shots in the win. And Lankinen remained cool under pressure while under attack.
“Sometimes you can feel this is the moment the boys need you,” Lankinen said. “That was it. As a goalie, you need to step up big in those moments.”
Lankinen never seems to lose confidence, but it was only two starts ago that he gave up six goals in a loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Blanking the Red Wings — or any team — has to be a confidence boost, even if Lankinen didn’t show it.
“It feels awesome,” Lankinen said. “It’s just great. One of those nights you always dream about growing up. You want to get your first game, your first win and then your first shutout. It’s nice to get that under the belt. At the same time, just hungry for more and looking forward to getting more games.”