Win streak at 4 after Hawks blank Ducks
Exciting nights have been rare for the Blackhawks this season. Complete performances have been even more rare.
But for their lone Saturday home game of the season, the Hawks delivered both, beating the Ducks 3-0 in a fast-paced, highquality game to earn their fourth consecutive victory.
‘‘That’s probably one of the best games we’ve played for 60 minutes,’’ interim coach Derek King said. ‘‘We had hiccups and all that, but we stayed composed and got the job done.’’
The Hawks’ largest home crowd since Nov. 26 — a rowdy bunch of 18,469 fans — kept the atmosphere buzzing, and the team fed off that energy. They peppered Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal, who was making only his third career appearance, with 18 high-danger scoring chances, a season high.
Brandon Hagel broke a 0-0 deadlock halfway through the second period — concluding a wild sequence that began with goal-line clears by defensemen Jakub Galvas and Riley Stillman — before fellow wings Patrick Kane and Dominik Kubalik added insurance goals in the third.
‘‘If we focus defensively, we can be pretty good in transition, get some . . . odd-man rushes and opportunities off the rush that way,’’ Kane said. ‘‘Hopefully we’re trying to turn the corner here and become a really good team.’’
On the other end of the rink, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury
— making his 909th career appearance — was just as busy, facing 19 high-danger chances and 37 shots on goal. But he turned all of them away for his third shutout of the season.
That the Hawks have put together this streak despite five players being in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols — four of them key contributors — makes it even more impressive.
‘‘We’re doing the right things,’’ Stillman said. ‘‘We’re coming in the right direction. The guys believe in ourselves. We believe in one another. After that [Coyotes] game, something clicked for us, and we have to keep this momentum going.’’
Lafferty assumes sizable role
The start of forward Sam Lafferty’s tenure with the Hawks wasn’t ideal.
One day after his trade Jan. 5 from the Penguins, he arrived in Chicago and tested positive for COVID-19, leaving him stuck in a hotel room in an unfamiliar city and absent from what was supposed to be his first road trip with the Hawks.
‘‘It was pretty crazy, a tough bounce,’’ he said Friday. ‘‘Luckily, it was only five days. I should be in the clear for the next 90 days or so, so [it’s] nice to get it out of the way in that sense.’’
(Lafferty was referring to a rule in which the NHL doesn’t resume testing players who recover from COVID until 90 days later.)
Lafferty, 26, finally made his first two Hawks appearances this week, playing 15:17 on Thursday against the Canadiens and 11:37 against the Ducks after averaging 8:43 during his 10 appearances earlier this season with the Penguins.
‘‘[The trade was] still a bit of a shock to the system, but when I heard it was Chicago, I was superexcited,’’ he said. ‘‘Just a fresh start is huge. I can come in here and hopefully carve out a role with this team.
‘‘Everyone’s been really good to me so far, so I want to return the favor and play some good hockey.’’
Lafferty started on the fourth line against the Canadiens but was bumped up to third-line center against the Ducks, in between Henrik Borgstrom and surging Philipp Kurashev.
King sees Lafferty as bestsuited at center, citing his strong skating.