ELMONT, NY – There’s been no denying the Blackhawks’ prowess lately when they’ve gone to overtime or the shootout, but they were hoping that it wouldn’t have to be Sunday night.
They entered the final minute of their game against the struggling Islanders on Sunday night with a 2-1 lead and Marc-Andre Fleury holding his own between the pipes. That advantage lasted until the final ten seconds as well, but the Islanders managed to send the Blackhawks to the extra session again.
Noah Dobson’s goal with 2.3 seconds to go helped New York tie the game and send it to overtime as the shot for a regulation win slipped away from the visitors. But like before, the Blackhawks managed to save their best for extra time, and came out with two points once again.
In the exact same scenario as their win over the Capitals on Thursday, Patrick Kane had the only shootout goal the Blackhawks would need. Fleury made three consecutive saves against Islanders’ shooters to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 victory and get out of New York with a split.
On Saturday night, the team had lost 3-2 to the Islanders at Madison Square Garden that followed that 4-3 shootout win in Washington as the Blackhawks finish the east coast road trip 2-1.
Fleury improved to 3-0 on the season in shootouts while also making 22 saves in regulation and in overtime. Sundays his 499th career win and could reach 500 with over the Rangers Tuesday at the United Center.
The back-and-forth contest saw the Blackhawks get on the board first when Brandon Hagel scored his eighth goal of the year. Jean-Gabriel Pageau evened the game in the second period but Dylan Strome gave the Blackhawks the lead early in the third with his second goal of the year.
This remained that way until the final seconds when the regulation win got away thanks to a late goal, but a familiar repeat of events in the shootout kept the Blackhawks’ recent winning ways going.