It may be a battle of two division rivals in the Western Conference, but the Chicago Blackhawks and host San Jose Sharks head into Thursday’s matchup with both teams coming off wins.
The Blackhawks ended a four-game losing streak and landed on the West Coast with a 5-2 road win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, while the Sharks started a five-game homestand with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. . on tuesday.
In fact, the Sharks won back-to-back games after starting the season without a win in their first nine games with a 5-4 come-from-behind overtime victory over Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City on Monday. I am doing it.
“A win is a win. It doesn’t matter where we are. We want to win hockey games here,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I’m proud of the guys that participated in (Tuesday’s) back-to-back games, the way we performed, the way we looked and the way we worked was what it should have been. I’m proud of the group.”
It would be no exaggeration to say that the situation was difficult for the Sharks, who are currently at the bottom of the Pacific Division. After finishing last in the league in the 2023-24 season, expectations were high that they had hit rock bottom and could turn things around. Instead, they struggled to get out of the blocks.
But the mood is high after two wins, and no one feels better than Jake Wolman. The defenseman scored one point on a three-point performance against the Kings after dishing out three assists against Utah the night before.
“I think we can all contribute. We’ve all contributed individually in the past,” Wolman said. “Anytime we can help our forwards, the biggest thing is to get them to do it. We have a lot of very skilled forwards.”
Chicago, which defeated the Sharks 4-2 in its season opener on Oct. 17, is playing the third game of a five-game road trip that will conclude with two games against two Southern California clubs.
Beating the Avalanche and finally stopping the slide was a huge boost for the Blackhawks, who had been on the bad side in several close games during the slump.
“I think we deserved what we got (Monday), and there were some nights where we probably didn’t deserve what we ended up with,” coach Luke Richardson said. “We could have easily gotten a few more wins, but I think this team and this whole organization is tired of mental wins. So (this win) was a real win for us and we took it into league play. It was a really big step for us to connect.”It’s in the back of my mind how we did it. ”
Chicago was the better team throughout the first period against Colorado and took advantage of that. Ryan Donato scored the first of two goals early in the game for a 3-1 lead.
And even if his offensive contributions weren’t enough, Donato, along with linemates Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev, moderated Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon (one power-play goal).
“There have been many times in the last few games where we felt like we played pretty well and then the game came back to us within five minutes of being substituted. We found a way to keep the game from ending. Just,” Donato said.
“I think after the second (period) we all came to the locker room and said, this is not good enough, we have to take another step back. There’s not much to say other than just get the job done, that’s it. That’s kind of you.” What happened? ”
Chicago enters Thursday’s game tied with Nashville for last place in the Central Division.
–Field level media
https://deadspin.com/last-place-sharks-blackhawks-aim-to-build-on-recent-wins/