The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday, adding to a 4-2 victory over Anaheim in the first game of the back-to-back on Wednesday.
Late in the first, the Blackhawks broke the scoring. Patrick Kane scored first, easily tapping in a rebound from a missed shot by Alex DeBrincat into a yawning net as Jonathan Quick was pulled out of position by DeBrincat’s off-aim one-timer:
That’s Kane’s 21st goal of the season.
It also became clear towards the end of the first period that it doesn’t matter that these teams haven’t faced each other since November 2019, that the remnants of the Cup cores of each side continue to dwindle, that both Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty are hurt for Los Angeles, or that there’s really nothing for someone like Quinton Byfield or Alex DeBrincat to hate the other side for.