BLACKHAWKS BANTER

The Chicago Blackhawks opened their 2021 campaign on Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.  The home team immediately took an advantage, scoring three points within the first ten minutes of the game.  Chicago is adjusting to a new line-up, that features six notable newcomers including; Tyler Johnson, Seth Jones, and Marc-Andre Fleury.  However it seemed that the strong defensive additions didn’t help the team achieve a result, as the pairing of Jones and Calvin De Haan were unable to slow down the Denver offense.  Hope came back to Blackhawks fans when Dominik Kubalik scored the first goal of the season late into the first period, putting the team on the board with 1-3.  The Avalanche quickly responded with their fourth goal of the evening, to keep their three point lead.  The third period brought out more energy from the Chicagoans, and they were visibly more confident.  This helped them keep Denver at four, while defense man Connor Murphy pushed a puck past netminder Darcy Kuemper.  It’s tough to begin the season with loss, but the Hawks will put up a fight on Friday night as they take on the New Jersey Devils in Newark at 6:00pm CST.  According to Blackhawks Insider Charlie Roumeliotis, Kevin Lankinen is set to start in the crease along with few alterations in the lineup that will give Erik Gustafsson his second career debut with Chicago taking Ian Mitchell out of the game.  Tonight’s sixty minutes of hockey can be caught on ESPN+.