When desperate times call for desperate measures, the Blackhawks usually load up their first line by pairing Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews together. Chicago knows it as the “nuclear option.”
But there’s a third piece to the puzzle this season: Dominik Kubalik.
After falling in a 2-0 hole in the first period against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, head coach Jeremy Colliton turned to Kubalik-Toews-Kane in the second period for a spark, just like he did on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks. And it paid off immediately.
For the fifth straight game, Kubalik found the back of the net after Kane’s shot went off Kubalik’s leg and in with 2:40 left in the middle frame.