The Chicago Blackhawks played a good game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. They won their second game of the regular season beating the Maple Leafs 4-1.
Last season the Blackhawks were not in every game. Most nights they were drastically outplayed or just did not have the skill to compete hard for a full 60 minutes, this year looks to be a little different.
The Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a close game that featured Arvid Soderblom posting a .971 save percentage and stopping 34 shots on goal. All in all, this was a great game for the Hawks, and there are a few standout takeaways worth mentioning.
Three big takeaways from the Blackhawks win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1. MacKenzie Entwistle deserves some recognition.
Just earning a roster spot this season was not easy for Entwistle with how many new depth players were added to the roster this offseason. Last season Entwistle played in 66 regular season games, but this year it looked as though he could be an odd man out on the roster, and now he has scored his first goal of the season.
Entwistle lights the lamp!!! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/DK5gzI5Ka6
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 17, 2023
Entwistle put in the work on this play getting infront of the net and getting a well deserved goal to kick off the 2023-24 season. Entwistle was on the fourth line playing alongside Katchouk and Athanasiou, and while he might have played a little over eight minutes, he did leave an impact on the game.
2. The Blackhawks have something in Alex Vlasic.
Through the first four games of the season, Alex Vlasic has registered two assists, nine blocked shots and five hits. He has quietly looked like a standout on this roster playing alongside Seth Jones on the top defensive pairing on the team.
Vlasic is 6’6″ and at 22 years old is getting his first real crack at the NHL. He looks like a great defenseman that the team can have in their defense for years to come. With that in mind, his rookie contract is set to expire this upcoming offseason, so maybe getting a long term deal worked out sooner rather than later can be advantageous to Kyle Davidson and the Blackhawks.
3. Faceoffs.
The Blackhawks won just 37.3 percent of the faceoffs against Toronto and over the course of the team’s first four games they have won just 33.2 percent of the faceoffs.
This has been a big issue for the young Blackhawks team and you might point to their two young stars as the main problem here. Connor Bedard has won just 13 faceoffs of the 37 he has taken this season. Reichel has won just eight of 25 so far. Obviously this is not that big of a deal as both should improve as the regular season continues, but it is worth pointing out.
The other notable player worth mentioning in the faceoff dot has to be Jason Dickinson. Dickinson was third last season in faceoff wins behind Jonathan Toews and Max Domi. Toews won 63.1 percent of his faceoffs, obviously the Hawks are going to miss him in that respect this season, but Dickinson needs to be a good center for the team.
Chicago’s next game is in Colorado on Thursday to end a five game road trip. Heading home for the home opener with a potential 3-2-0 record would definitely be a big win for the team.