Top 3 takeaways from Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Blackhawks Game 4
The Chicago Blackhawks avoided elimination in Game 4 with a 3-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. What can fans take away from it?
The Chicago Blackhawks extended their season on Sunday night by avoiding elimination in Game 4. After their 3-1 win in Game 4, they still trail the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 in the series, but what’s important is they still have life.
It wasn’t easy, and it sure wasn’t pretty, but the Blackhawks still have a chance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They’ll have to etch their names in the history books if they want to get past the Golden Knights, but crazier things have happened.
Let’s take a look at three takeaways from Game 4 of the Golden Knights and Blackhawks series.
1. Vegas Was The Better Team
In hockey, the better team doesn’t always win. There are so many variables that teams can’t control, yet are important to a game’s outcome. The Vegas Golden Knights lost Game 4 on the scoreboard, but it’s really hard to argue that they weren’t the better team in Game 4.
At 5v5, Vegas was clearly the better team. They had 38 scoring chances while the Blackhawks had just 10. The Golden Knights had 76 5v5 shot attempts while the Blackhawks had just 29. Vegas had 16 high-danger scoring chances while Chicago had just three.
The Golden Knights were simply the victim of facing a goalie having one of the best games of his career. Hey, it happens. The Golden Knights need to realize they still have a 3-1 series lead and that they did a lot of great things in Game 4. They deserved a far better outcome than a 3-1 loss.
Sometimes, after a loss, it can be tempting to switch things up. But honestly, Vegas should stick to their game plan. They made Corey Crawford have one of the best games of his career for the Blackhawks to win. He did exactly that. You’ve got to tip your hat to Crawford and move on.
2. Puck Luck
As I said earlier, there are many variables in hockey that teams can’t control, yet are important to a game’s outcome. It’s why there are so many upsets in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One of those variables is “puck luck”. When you’ve got a hardened rubber object flying across solid ice, sometimes it can do some crazy things.
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That’s the simplest way to describe how the Blackhawks won. Chicago’s first goal was scored by Drake Caggiula after Olli Maatta attempted to pass the puck to Patrick Kane, but missed. Caggiula was in the right place at the right time to hammer home a one-timer.
You’re not going to find a crazier goal than the one Matthew Highmore scored against Robin Lehner. Technically, he scored it from behind the goal line. Highmore chased a puck, won a battle, and decided to put the puck on net, hoping that a teammate could jump on a juicy rebound.
What he wasn’t counting on was the puck hitting Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner in the head and going into the net. It was that kind of night for the Blackhawks. The puck bounced their way when they needed it to and that’s a huge reason why they won.
3. Crawford’s Epic Night
Let’s be honest. There’s no way the Chicago Blackhawks would have won Game 4 without goaltender Corey Crawford. They didn’t deserve to beat the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4. Without him, the game wouldn’t have even been close.
Crawford’s had a lot of great games of his career, so it means something that he might have had the best game of his career last night. He stopped all but one of the 49 shots on goal he saw. Crawford faced 16 high-danger chances and zero of them went in. His lone hiccup was a long goal from Shea Theodore.
⭐️Tonight's Three Stars* of the Game⭐️
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 17, 2020
*𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 pic.twitter.com/SRcdkQn9EV
He stopped all nine of the power play shots against he saw and even stopped the Golden Knights from scoring a shorthanded goal with a fantastic save. Crawford’s future with the Blackhawks is uncertain, as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. However, in Game 4, he proved he’s not ready to be done in Chicago yet.
Next. Predicting Each Team's Future Hall of Famers. dark
In what could be one of his last games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Corey Crawford had what might have been the best performance of his career. You could certainly make an argument for his legendary 60 save performance in triple overtime against the Anaheim Ducks in 2015. For one night, Crawford turned back the clocks and now the Blackhawks have hope.