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player ready...The Chicago Blackhawks got a few monkeys off their back in their 5-2 upset of the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at the SAP Center.
Five-on-five goals? Competitive second period? Heck, just a plain win — period? Done, done and done.
When the Hawks fell behind 2-0 in the first period, they wrangled that 500-pound gorilla — “here we go again” — and thumped it to the tune of five unanswered goals in the second and third.
The Hawks got their first win of the season and Luke Richardson got his first as a head coach.
“It’s awesome for him to get his first win as a head coach,” said Taylor Raddysh, who had a third-period goal. “It’s special to be a part of that. We’ve just got to keep building off that and keep getting better every day.”
Raddysh’s goal was an example of a Hawks player going a step beyond and making a play that made the difference between winning and losing, the kind of difference-maker that had eluded them in the first two games.
Tyler Johnson slid to block Mario Ferraro and sprung Raddysh on a breakaway.
“That was pretty special to have a guy like that selling out in a key point of the game too,” Raddysh said.
The Hawks had a 3-2 lead at the time, certainly not a comfortable margin.
“Huge. Our bench erupted,” Richardson said. “That’s a sign of a team, when you’re excited for a player and someone sacrificing like that.”
Here are three takeaways from the win.
1. For such short notice, Jason Dickinson couldn’t ask for better results.
Dickinson was not set up for success entering his Hawks debut. He was delayed by immigration issues, had a morning video session to cram and was tossed onto a new line and the penalty kill.
But perhaps that let him clear the noise.
“It was ugly in the first period,” he said. “I’m heavily critical of my defensive game. Those first two goals are going to eat me alive for a little bit.”
Dickinson, who fashions himself a two-way forward, was on the ice when Nico Sturm and Erik Karlsson scored for the Sharks.
“But I was able to shut it out and just play,” Dickinson said. “That was all I wanted to do tonight was just play hockey.
“I think the best players in the world play the game without thinking, right? Everything’s on instinct, so there’s definitely something to it.”
In a game of chicken for the puck, Dickinson beat Tomas Hertl to it and led a rush with Philipp Kurashev, ripping it past Kaapo Kahkonen to cap the Hawks scoring.
He also had two power-play assists.
Linemate Sam Lafferty scooped in Dickinson’s rebound on the first short-handed goal, and on the second Dickinson turned a falling wraparound attempt into a pass to Lafferty, which he roofed over Kahkonen.
Lafferty became the seventh Hawks player since 1933-34 to score two shorties. Dickinson’s three-point debut trails only Martin Havlat’s four (two goals and two assists) on Oct. 5, 2006.
“Sometimes things just click,” Richardson said of Dickinson. “We talked about it this morning, he had a chance to come in here and have a fresh start and he took advantage of it.”
Instinct? Chemistry? It doesn’t matter as much as Dickinson getting out of his own head.
“I know over my career that I’ve overthought too much sometimes, and that’s what definitely is a problem for when I start playing poorly,” he said. “So, yeah, just going out there and playing. Simple as that.”
2. This time, the Hawks made the second period work for them.
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In two losses to open the season, fatigue — mental or physical — caught up with the Hawks in the second period with a noticeable lag.
They didn’t wait that long this time.
“We were really good the first half of the first period, and then I think we thought it was coming a little too easy and we took the foot off the pedal,” Richardson said. “Had a couple scrambly D-zones and they ended up capitalizing on that.
“Went to the dressing room after the first and chatted with the guys. Credit to all the leaders in that room. I didn’t say too much but just made them realize what went on in the period, that we were moving our legs and then we weren’t.”
To Dickinson, the message at intermission was simple: “Get back to work.”
The Hawks got to digging the puck out of a scrum by the boards and over to Jonathan Toews, who backhanded in their first goal of the night. They were re-energized.
“That was the biggest thing,” Richardson said. “The compete level had to rise up, and the veterans took that one step further. We came out and played great.”
3. Win No. 1 is in the books for Luke Richardson.
Richardson has been on the job since late June, but he still is acting like a hockey player, deflecting when anyone brings up his head-coaching “firsts.”
It was the same with his first win.
“I try to downplay my role here,” Richardson said. “Kaner (Patrick Kane) gave me the puck after the game and the team congratulated me, but really I’m here to try to help them. I’m so happy for them to get their first win and looking forward to them getting their second.
“I’m happy to share the puck with the whole team. They’re the ones that go out and sacrifice. We just try to put a plan in place for them.”
However, he did admit that “definitely it feels nice. Maybe an extra glass of wine tonight for me.”