For the first time since Oct. 14 — the third game of the season — the Blackhawks faced an opponent Tuesday with a record worse than their own.
And in a battle between the No. 31 and 32 teams in the NHL standings, in front of a season-worst crowd of 16,401 at the United Center, the Hawks beat the last-place Sharks 2-1 after a ridiculous nine-round shootout.
“I didn’t even know it was nine [rounds],” goalie Petr Mrazek said, smiling. “I stopped counting after six or seven.”
Hawks coach Luke Richardson could only chuckle afterward at the game’s comical ugliness.
“It was interesting, that’s for sure,” Richardson said. “We found a way to get it done. It wasn’t a pretty night for both teams.”
Mrazek was yet again Tuesday one of few bright spots on this injury-decimated Hawks roster, saving 37 of 38 shots during normal play — marking his eighth start with 37-plus saves this season — and eight of nine shootout attempts.
He has carried a shutout into the second intermission of three consecutive starts and allowed two or fewer goals in four consecutive starts.
With Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson now extended, Mrazek is the team’s most relevant and highest-value pending unrestricted free agent left, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him soon extended, too.
“Most goalies get in their own world — they don’t want to talk,” Richardson said. “But he wants information, and he gives information to our defensemen especially. And then he’s got energy and ... he plays like that. He’s not that square-blocker or boxy-type guy. He’s active and fun to watch. He’s really good with playing the puck, as well.”
Cole Guttman scored in the first period for the Hawks and ex-Hawks forward Ryan Carpenter answered in the third period for the Sharks in a game that was just as sloppy and endless as the two teams’ 13-29-2 and 10-31-4 records would suggest.
Rem Pitlick kept the Hawks alive in the third round of the shootout, Dickinson and Zach Sanford both hit posts on later attempts and finally Boris Katchouk — in his first career shootout attempt — gave the Hawks a lead in the ninth round, allowing Mrazek to stop fellow Czechia native Filip Zadina to win it.
This marked the first of three meetings this season between the Hawks and Sharks, who created a compelling rivalry back in their mid-2010s heydays but now share eyes on projected 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini — even though the team that finishes last will have only a 25.5% chance of ending up with him.
