A season-high six-game losing streak may be in the rearview, but the Chicago Blackhawks still have the trouble of skating without injured forwards Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar for a bit longer.
Some subtle line shuffling helped the Blackhawks during Saturday’s 4-3 shootout victory in Dallas, and the club hopes the consistency creates more comfort as the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins visit Sunday night.
Tyler Bertuzzi snapped a seven-game pointless streak with a pair of goals for Chicago. He skated on the top line with Jason Dickinson, who also scored, and Landon Slaggert. There were other adjustments to be had with Ilya Mikheyev missing the game for the birth of his child, but the Blackhawks jelled.
“I was trying to keep some continuity from the last game,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “I don’t like moving lines around every game. We tried to keep the (Ryan) Donato line the same, and we just took Mikheyev out and put another guy that skates pretty well in (Slaggert).”
Chicago recalled Slaggert from the team’s American Hockey League affiliate earlier Saturday.
“Him and Micky aren’t exactly the same player, but he does bring energy, he does skate,” Blashill said. “He brings that line some speed, which I thought was important.”
Rookie Nick Lardis sealed the victory for the Blackhawks with a goal in the fourth round of the shootout. The forward is seeking his first career point at United Center — he scored during a Dec. 20 loss at Ottawa — but has registered a shot on goal in four of his six career games.
Pittsburgh has been idle since Tuesday’s 6-3 loss in Toronto, which dropped the club to 1-5-4 in its past 10 games.
The Penguins bemoaned a bevy of bad bounces, including two Maple Leafs goals on breakaways and another that ricocheted off a Pittsburgh stick.
“We try to do the right things,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “They caught all the breaks and capitalized on them. That’s the way it’s gonna go sometimes. … But we’ve been giving up too many (odd-man rushes) the last little bit.”
Goaltender Stuart Skinner, a recent acquisition from the Edmonton Oilers, made 25 saves on 29 shots while appearing in his 200th career game.
“He was there when we needed him,” Penguins forward Rutger McGroarty said. “We just can’t give up that many good looks.”
Skinner fell to 0-3-0 with a 4.18 goals-against average with Pittsburgh.
Bryan Rust, Anthony Mantha and McGroarty scored for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby earned career assist No. 1,080 to surpass Adam Oates for eighth on the NHL’s all-time list.
Crosby has provided a steady hand during the Penguins’ December slide, contributing 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 12 games this month.
In 21 career games against the Blackhawks, he has eight goals and seven assists. That includes a game-winning power-play goal that paced the Penguins to a 5-0 rout of visiting Chicago on April 8.
The clubs split a pair of games last season, meeting over a span of three days.
–Field Level Media
