LOS ANGELES — After so many close losses and fruitless extra-attacker sequences, the Blackhawks believed they were due for something to go their way.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday. They overcame an overall poor performance by rallying to beat the Kings 4-3 in a shootout.
“We know we can and need to play better, but to find a way to come back in this game and get it done is a testament to the guys in here — and, honestly, probably to the hockey gods, too,” captain Nick Foligno said. “We probably deserved to win in San Jose and didn’t. Here we probably didn’t, but we got the win.”
That defeat Thursday against the Sharks was particularly painful, and it weighed on the team the last two days. The Hawks held their own in the first two periods and dominated the third against San Jose, one of the NHL’s worst teams, but couldn’t break through.
This game against the Kings followed a similar pattern, just scaled down greatly. The Hawks were lifeless through the first two periods, getting outshot 23-8 and outscored 2-0. They were scrappy but hardly commanding in the third period, getting outshot 12-11. But three of those 11 shots went in, leading to a much different outcome.
Foligno followed up a shot that squeaked through Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper to get the Hawks on the board, and Lukas Reichel orchestrated a beautiful rush to set up a goal by Craig Smith two minutes later.
After the Kings retook the lead, Hawks coach Luke Richardson sent out Ryan Donato — whom he had promoted into a much bigger role because of his recent hot streak — during the six-on-five sequence, and Donato fed Tyler Bertuzzi in the crease to tie the score with 30 seconds left.
“Our team really responded in the third,” Richardson said. “We’re lucky that Petr [Mrazek] kept us in it at 2-0 up to that point. So [it’s a] good lesson. We’ve got to make sure we have our skating legs right out of the gate because that team really put it to us in the first part.”
The Hawks made an adjustment in the third period to send their breakouts up the weak side, Richardson said. That helped them penetrate the Kings’ tight neutral-zone structure, which has changed from a 1-3-1 to a 1-2-2 this season but has historically stifled them.
The Kings controlled possession during most of the overtime but couldn’t score on Mrazek, who had 37 saves. In the shootout — the Hawks’ first since January — all three shooters (Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Donato) converted to give the Hawks only their third win in 14 trips to Los Angeles since 2014.
“We talked about it: You can’t play this game without being emotionally engaged,” Foligno said. “[The Kings] were ready to go, and we weren’t, and we tiptoed in.
‘‘Once guys got emotionally engaged in the game, we started playing the way we need to play. It wasn’t perfect, but that’s OK; we’re looking for results right now. It matters to know how to win.”
The Hawks continued their pattern of competitiveness. They’ve been within one goal in the third period in all but one game. They needed a result like this, though, after talking repeatedly about no longer accepting moral victories. Their 4-7-1 record still isn’t pretty, but their minus-six goal differential is actually better than quite a few teams.
They’ve won two of their last three games — with the one loss coming against the Sharks, which was statistically one of their best performances — entering the trip finale Sunday against the Ducks.
As they seek a November turnaround, that’s not exactly a large and firm foundation to build on, but it’s something.