NHL Scores (10-24)

Philadelphia Flyers (1) @ Montreal Canadiens (3)

Calgary Flames (3) @ Chicago Blackhawks (2) (SO)

Game of the Night

         Special teams were the story of last night’s game between the Flames and Blackhawks. So far this season, Chicago has had an abysmal penalty kill. They entered Monday with a league worst 42.9% success rate. Calgary entered the game with the worst power play in the league.

         Calgary’s power play quickly got on the board at 4:51 when Sam Bennett tucked in a loose puck to make it 1-0. The Blackhawks penalty kill was continuing to struggle. At the same time, the Flames power play was having a rare success. The Hawks tied the game at 1:32 of the 2^nd when Artem Anisimov gave Patrick Kane an amazing cross-ice pass. Kane finished the play by shooting a one-timer into the net over Brian Elliot.

         The Flames power play would burn (pun intended) the Blackhawks once again when Shawn Monahan put in another rebound at 6:52. Chicago would end up tying the game at 4:12 of the 3^rd when second-time Blackhawk Brian Campbell’s shot deflected in off a Calgary defenseman’s stick. The Blackhawks came close to breaking the tie in the dying seconds of regulation, but were unsuccessful.

         As a result, the game required overtime to decide a winner. Chicago had a full 2 minutes of power play time early in the extra period, but the opportunity was thwarted by Calgary. With no score in overtime, the game continued into a shootout. No one could score until former Blackhawk Kris Versteeg won the game for the Flames in the 7^th round.

         This game, in my opinion, contained 3 main storylines. First, Brian Elliot earned his first win as a member of the Calgary Flames. He stopped 31 of 33 shots and didn’t allow any shootout goals. Second, the Blackhawks special teams continue to struggle, as evidenced by the 2 power play goals against and 0 power play goals scored in the game. Third and finally, Kris Versteeg came back to Chicago to haunt his old team with his game-winner in the shootout.

Play of the Night

https://www.nhl.com/video/versteegs-slick-so-winner/t-282915354/c-45635103