ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Blackhawks have about 25 minutes of nightly playing time to fill with Seth Jones shipped off to the Panthers.
On Saturday night at least, their makeshift defensive corps covered that workload without issue, allowing their offense to explode in a second consecutive game in a 6-3 win over the Ducks.
Alex Vlasic took over quarterbacking the top power-play unit and led the Hawks with 23:53 of ice time — a hair above his season average — and veterans Connor Murphy and Alec Martinez also exceeded 20 minutes. Even embattled T.J. Brodie fared fine as a last-minute lineup insertion in the wake of the Jones trade, which happened just two hours before puck drop.
But the biggest key was youngsters Ethan Del Mastro and Wyatt Kaiser each stepping up with excellent performances in 19:56 and 19:21 of ice time, respectively. For Del Mastro, that marked a new career high, and he continued using his big body to separate opponents from the puck and then making smart plays out of the defensive zone.
Kaiser, moreover, looked like a completely different player in his first NHL appearance since Jan. 20, having just replaced Nolan Allan on the roster Friday. Kaiser’s vision and skating ability made a huge difference on defensive-zone exits, neutral-zone entries and offensive-zone cycles alike, and he scored his second career goal (in 77 games) on a highlight-reel play in the second period.
“You can tell they’re obviously very skilled,” said Martinez, who recorded two assists himself. “They can move the puck. They’re smart players. [It was] no surprise that they stepped in, played a big role, played really well and contributed big-time to the win.”
It’s perhaps unlikely they’ll be able to sustain this degree of success. But this was an encouraging sign that not only can the Hawks survive a Jones-sized hole in their defense for the final 1.5 months of the season, but also the extra opportunities might benefit their young defensemen.
Goals, suddenly
On the offensive side, the Hawks scored three goals in both the second and third periods, building upon their five-goal outburst Thursday against the Golden Knights and snapping a five-game losing streak.
Teuvo Teravainen tallied three points, Ryan Donato buried his team-leading 20th and 21st goals of the season to balloon the lead in the final frame and Lukas Reichel — returning after two healthy scratches — enjoyed his first multi-point outing since October.
Connor Bedard endured his fifth consecutive pointless game, however, as Andreas Athanasiou’s out-of-the-blue call-up and placement on his line failed to spark anything.
“It felt good to be back,” Reichel said. “It’s not always easy if you got scratched. [In the] first game back, [your] timing is a little off. But I tried to make the best of it, stay positive and play a little pissed off. I’m glad it worked out.
“Anders said before the game, ‘We’ve got to stay focused.’ And that’s what we did.”