Spencer Knight made his Chicago Blackhawks debut on Monday night against the Los Angeles Kings. That’s not exactly the easiest team to play against when you’re trying to learn a new team’s tendencies but he’s a professional.
This was also Chicago’s first game at the United Center without Seth Jones. They had time to digest the move going into this one. Chicago beat the Anaheim Ducks just a couple of hours after the deal went down on Saturday night.
Los Angeles came to Chicago 2-8-1 in their last 11 road games including their last two matches. The Blackhawks, a struggling group, are the type of team that the Kings need to beat in order to hang onto their playoff spot (they entered with a 5-point cushion).
Out of the gate, things weren’t great for the Hawks. They were being outshot 12-2 before all of the fans in attendance could even reach their seat.
On their third shot of the game, however, the Blackhawks found the back of the net. Alec Martinez sent a floater through traffic and put the Hawks up 1-0. The onslaught by the Kings continued, however, as Anze Kopitar tied it up about a minute later. The 1-1 tie would reach the first intermission.
From there, the Hawks started to even up play. After being outshot 17-7 in the opening frame, they came out in the second with a new groove. Just :46 into the middle period, Ilya Mikheyev gave them a 2-1 lead. It then became about holding onto that lead and perhaps building on it. They did.
At 13:30 of the second period, Ethan Del Mastro sent one across the ice and it ended up in the net. It appeared as if Craig Smith tapped in the pass to make it 3-1 but it went in off the Los Angeles defender. Del Mastro had his second career goal.
In the third period, just over a minute in, Colton Dach forced a turnover with his hard forecheck and fed one in front for Andreas Athanasiou. This is his first goal of the season after some time in the AHL. That had to feel good for him.
Late in regulation, Ryan Donato threw one into the empty net which secured a 5-1 victory for Chicago over the Kings. That makes two wins in a row for them following the big trade.
Spencer Knight was truly sensational in his first start with the Blackhawks. To say he made a good first impression would be an understatement.
Knight made 41 saves on 42 shots. He looked confident in the crease and made some high-difficulty saves against elite Los Angeles players. He faced a lot more rubber than he was used to facing in Florida but he handled it well.
After the game, Knight was voted to be the number one star of the game for his efforts. You really can’t ask for a better debut in a Blackhawks uniform.
Going forward, we’ll see how Anders Sorensen uses him but it’s hard to see Knight not getting a bulk of the work following that performance. Chicago’s next game will come on Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators.
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