The Chicago Blackhawks turned the corner after opening the season with three straight losses, wininng four of five heading into their matchup against the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
“It’s been some hard times, some good times, but we’re learning from losses and learning from mistakes,” said Blackhawks center Frank Nazar, who has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games.
Nazar collected a goal and an assist in Chicago’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Ryan Donato scored the go-ahead goal with 54 seconds left in the third period after Tampa Bay twice erased one-goal deficits.
“The younger guys are starting to understand that, if you do the hard things right, usually good things happen,” Donato said.
The Blackhawks killed all four short-handed situations against the Lightning and have snuffed out 18 of 20 over the past five games. They had to kill two in the third period on Thursday while the game was still tied.
“We got guys going out working their tail off to kill penalties,” Nazar said. “Being able to keep maturing our game and finishing and closing out games like that is super rewarding.”
Chicago could be facing a weary Los Angeles team that’s not only playing on back-to-back nights on the road, but the Kings have gone beyond regulation in each of their past four games (2-0-2).
They lost 5-4 in a nine-round shootout at the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, surrendering three leads along the way and then failing to take advantage of two late power plays in the third period.
The Kings will be playing their second back-to-back set of the season and that could pose a challenge for veterans like captain Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty.
Kopitar, 38, returned on Saturday night after missing four games with a foot injury and played 19:57 while matching the team lead with four shots on goal.
Doughty, 35, played 23:37 against the Predators. He looked more like the player who won a Norris Trophy in 2016 as the NHL’s top defenseman as opposed to the one who struggled in the second half of last season after missing the first half with a broken ankle.
“I’ve said this, about when I got here four years ago, he looks all the way back to that time, like he’s turned the clock back for himself and that’s really important,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said of Doughty. “As you get older, as we know, Father Time gets you and you’ve got to fight back. He had the summer that’s allowed him to do that.”
Doughty has alternated pairing with Mikey Anderson and Brian Dumoulin. The latter appreciates how hard Doughty competes defensively, his ability to defend with his stick and his reads.
“He’s very smart on the ice,” Dumoulin said. “He knows where the plays are, he knows where the threats are at different times, and he’s poised with the puck too, which helps.”
Dumoulin also appreciates the way Doughty constantly communicates on the ice.
“I just try to be there to support him in the neutral zone, in the D-zone too,” Dumoulin said. “[As you play] more and more with a partner, you get to know them even more, but so far it’s been great.”
