The Chicago Blackhawks collected a rare road victory on Thursday night following one of their hardest defeats of the season earlier on in the week. Despite this year’s team having similar results in the win column compared to a season ago, their style of play has drastically changed. The Blackhawks haven’t been getting blown out to the extent that they did last year and they are playing a much more physical brand of hockey.
Chicago did not get shut out for the first time all season until their loss in Colorado on March 10. This is way later than their first shutout in the 2023-24 campaign, which shows that their goal scoring efforts have improved with a couple of the veteran additions made last summer.
The squad has still gone through their handful of tougher losses this year, but that is expected with the number of roster changes that they experience on a weekly basis. This season will be seen as a shift in Chicago’s rebuild, as some first-round draft picks from the last couple of years have made their NHL debuts over the past month.
The Blackhawks bounced back nicely on Thursday in Boston after a rough loss two nights prior against the Penguins. The team’s captain believes their post-game conversations on Tuesday led to a better outcome in their final road game in the United States this year.
Chicago Blackhawks’ captain Nick Foligno believes meeting worked
Foligno made it known to the media after Thursday’s 5-2 victory in Boston that the team’s long meeting after the Pittsburgh game on Tuesday definitely had an impact on how they played.
“There was a more conscious effort for some guys to just dig it, respect the game,” Foligno said.
The team’s 5-0 loss on Tuesday was just the second time they have been shut out all season. They allowed three goals in the third period, which was the real back breaker in the loss. Chicago trailed 1-0 after the first 20 minutes of play on Thursday before Foligno scored his 13th goal of the season in the second period. With the score knotted at one entering the third frame, the Blackhawks scored three goals in the span of 93 seconds to put the game out of reach.
With not many games left in the season, a spark was certainly needed to get this team across the finish line. Saturday marks the final home contest for Chicago, before they head to Canada to play two games next Monday and Tuesday.
Nick Foligno can impact the Chicago Blackhawks young core next year
Foligno is under contract through the end of next season, which gives him plenty of time to work with all of the young pieces that will be entering their first full NHL seasons in the fall. The veteran forward was named the 35th captain of the franchise over the summer after they went without a designated leader last year.
It is clear that Foligno can handle the room and be an aid to the coaching staff, which will be a huge selling point when general manager Kyle Davidson is conducting interviews for the new bench boss this summer. While Foligno doesn’t have much time left in his professional career, he has made it clear that Chicago is exactly where he wants to be.
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