VANCOUVER, British Columbia — For years now, the Blackhawks have had the firm belief that they’re never out of any game, that they had the firepower and the experience and the sheer force of will to pull out any victory in almost any situation.
After Saturday night’s furious three-goal third-period rally in a wild 4-3 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the rookies now know that, too.
“In the locker room between the second and third, everyone was still chatting, saying what we needed to do, things we needed to do a little better,” Vinnie Hinostroza said. “Guys are saying, ‘We’re coming back, there’s no way we’re losing this one.’ It’s definitely cool to hear that and be a part of the comeback.”
Hinostroza was a big part of it. So were Ryan Hartman and Nick Schmaltz and Richard Panik and Michal Kempny, who all had big third periods in the unlikely win. It was Marian Hossa — who else? — who scored the game-winner after a breathless overtime that saw Jonathan Toews’ apparent winner overturned because the play was offside. But it was the kids who pulled this one out.
Surely angry, and likely a bit embarrassed after trailing 3-0 through two periods against one of the worst teams in the league, the Hawks looked like a different team to start the third period. A Daniel Sedin penalty in the opening minute gave them a power play, and Artemi Panarin unleashed a one-timer off a Patrick Kane feed seconds after the power play ended to give the Hawks some life. Hinostroza then made a nice move to the net around Alexander Edler, then followed his own shot for his first NHL goal and point. Hinostroza leapt into the glass to celebrate, and suddenly, it was just 3-2 Canucks and the Hawks had all the momentum.
The Canucks were hanging on for dear life, as they withstood a Brian Campbell shot off the crossbar and a Hawks power play late in the period. But at 15:46, Hinostroza found Hartman in the slot, and Hartman beat Jacob Markstrom for the equalizer, leaving the beleaguered Canucks fan base more bummed than stunned.
“It was definitely exciting,” Hinostroza said of his first points. “Been thinking about it a lot actually. So it’s nice to get that out of the way and hopefully I’ll keep producing. I think last year in the AHL it took me 20 games to score. And it was probably about a year ago any day now. I thought it was about time to put one in and my linemates were playing great.”
After Toews’ apparent winner in the opening seconds of overtime, Markstrom already was gone, having broken his stick on the way to the dressing room. Joel Quenneville was down the tunnel, too. Once everyone came back, the next four minutes were a blur of golden scoring chances, with Scott Darling making several huge stops, including one on the Sedin twins and one on a Loui Eriksson breakaway. Kane had a breakaway turned aside by Markstrom, as well. Finally, it was Hossa who broke through, with his 11th goal, in the final minute of overtime.
According to Elias, it was the first time the Hawks erased a three-goal, third-period deficit and won since Nov. 24, 1995. But you wouldn’t know that by the team’s unwavering self-confidence.
“We didn’t panic,” said Hossa, who has 10 goals in his last 12 games. “We knew there’s still 20 minutes left and this team is able to score three goals in a period. Just a great start of the third period, and a big third goal by our young guys. Beautiful play by three of them.”
The Canucks entered Saturday’s game one point out of dead last in the entire NHL, averaging barely two goals a game and saddled with a league-worst goal-differential. Through their first 18 games, they had never led after the first period. The Hawks, meanwhile, came to Vancouver with the best record in the conference, the most goals, the highest goal-differential, and an 8-1-2 record in their last 11 games.
Yet the Hawks found themselves down 3-0 through two, as they couldn’t handle the puck to save their lives. Loui Eriksson scored a power-play goal in the first period to give the Canucks their first lead after the first period all season, and then they added second-period goals by Bo Horvat (shorthanded after Toews had his pocket picked by Alex Burrows) and Brandon Sutter (after Kempny mishandled the puck in the defensive zone).
But the third period was a different story — albeit a familiar one for the Hawks, who have made third-period rallies a staple of their game, this season and in years past.
“This group found a way to win,” Hossa said. “There’s so much leadership in this room. We never give up and that was a great example.”
Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com
Twitter: @marklazerus
