INSTANT ANALYSIS: Blackhawks Grit Out Shootout Win Over Penguins

Just like that, the Blackhawks have found momentum.
A 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night has the team on its first winning streak of the season and starting to put the pieces together after a frustrating opening few weeks to the year.
"That's a game that we wanted and we stuck with it," Jujhar Khaira said.
"There's some cleaning up to do, obviously, but at least the battle level is there, the accountability is there and you can see these guys are actually playing for each other," interim head coach Derek King said.

POSTGAME LINKS
GAMECENTER: CHI vs. PIT
RECAP: Blackhawks Outlast Penguins in Shootout, 3-2
RELEASE:: Kalynuk Activated Off LTIR
HIGHLIGHTS: Blackhawks vs. Penguins
GALLERY: Blackhawks vs. Penguins
Khaira and Seth Jones netted the Chicago goals in regulation before Alex DeBrincat played hero for the second straight game, this time in a shootout. Marc-Andre Fleury shined in net against his former team, stopping 42 shots on the night.

GRITTY WIN

Chicago found themselves in unfamiliar territory in the third period, holding two-goal lead as Pittsburgh surged for the equalizer. The Penguins outshot the Blackhawks in the final frame 20-5, nearly matching their shot total from the opening two periods.
Jeff Carter found a pair of goals -- the second in transition just seconds after a Mike Hardman breakaway chance -- to level the game and force a thrilling overtime period before the deciding shootout.
"There's a lot of stuff we can clean up, for sure," King said. "We get a lead like that and we're cruising along, cruising along, it's not sitting back and hopefully we can weather the storm and get the win and get out of here. We need to learn how to play with the lead and not sit back, let's go get the third goal, let's go get the fourth goal. All the things we did in the first and the second, we've got to learn to play that in the third. This is what's going to separate us from being a team that struggles or a team that's comfortable playing with the lead."
"They took it to us in the third and that's something we've got to learn from," Kharia said, "but at the same time, we had guys laying down to block shots and making smart plays when they had to. It's going to be some growing pains for us, but overall we played a strong game."

As the Penguins pushed in the third period down a pair of goals, Chicago struggled at times to get out of their own end, but found ways to pay the physical price and do anything possible to get to the final whistle. In total, the Blackhawks blocked 21 shots on the night -- two off their season high.
"Winning makes everything better, but it comes at a price and that's hard work," Seth Jones said. "We've started doing the little things as you can see in our game in the defensive zone -- blocking more shots, stopping in the defensive zone with our puck battles, creating battles in the neutral zone and once we get in the offensive zone, it's easy to create. We have to do the work in the other two zones."
"The fact that these guys stood in front of pucks, they were diving everywhere," King said, "It wasn't pretty again, but they're finding a way to play for each other."

No one personified the win-at-all-costs mentality more than Calvin de Haan on Tuesday night.
The defenseman led the team with four credited blocked shots, including an incredible sequence -- although a painful one to watch -- in the second period. de Haan made a stop on a powerful shot from the point while the Penguins were on the power play, limped to the bench and immediately down the tunnel to the locker room, but didn't miss a single shift. His very next time out, he laid the body on the line again with a block in front, this time unable to get to the bench without assistance from Connor Murphy after a whistle. Again, the blueliner didn't miss a shift, right back out there a minute or two later to keep paying the price for his team.
"Big time," Khaira said of the sacrifice. "He's a great player and those are big blocks for the team, momentum builders and giving confidence in everyone else on the ice. That's a hard job to do, not easy on the body, but he kept going down and blocking shots and that's the culture we want with this team: sacrificing and doing whatever we have to do to win."
"That's what I said to him after the second: 'Great blocked shots.' All in that one shift, he had about six. And I said, 'That's the most I've had in my whole career,'" King said. "They're sacrificing themselves for the good of the team, but you could just see the guys on the bench getting up, banging the boards, hobbling off and helping him off the ice and helping him into the locker room. It's just good to see.

FLEURY REDEMPTION

When the Blackhawks traveled to Pittsburgh on Oct. 16, just the third game of the year, it was just the third time Marc-Andre Fleury was playing in front of the fans that cheered him on for the first 13 seasons of his career. It was a forgettable outing, though, allowing four goals in the opening 12 minutes of play as a leaky Blackhawks defense struggled across the board in Pennsylvania.
"Absolutely," Jake McCabe said of the redemption focus for the team's netminder ahead of the game. "We've hung him up to dry a couple times now, not only in Pittsburgh."
"We talked about it before, we really wanted to hunker down from him and get the win for him," Jones said of the team's focus this time around.

Fleury made a season-best 42 stops in the win, posting his second victory of the year and one that carried a little extra meaning given the opponent.
"Oh, geez. Yeah," Fleury said when asked if it felt better this time around. "I was happy to get the nod and get a crack at them again. It was frustrating last time and embarrassing for me to go back there and do so poor. Tonight went better and got a win."
The future Hall of Famer sealed the win by stopping former teammates Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang in the shootout to get the full two points on the night.

FIRSTS

The regulation scoring at home was a first-time party as Khaira and Jones each scored their first in Blackhawks sweaters in the second period.
Khaira was the beneficiary of a Jonathan Toews setup at the back post for his strike, adding an offensive element to the physical presence he's known to bring.
"There's nothing better than scoring goals in this league and that one was on a silver platter for me," Khaira said. "I really just had to put my stick down and push it forward. That was a great play by the other four guys off that faceoff. Yeah, it feels great."
Jones added a little more flourish to his first, walking in from the point and ripping a shot off the crossbar and in from the top of the circle through a Kirby Dach screen in front. For the team's leading assist man, it was a relief to find the scoresheet in another way this season.
"It feels nice. I've shot the puck a lot this year and I just told myself 'Keep shooting, keep shooting' and hopefully one went in," Jones said. "Good tonight. Was a great screen by Kirby to take the goalie's eyes away and shot it through him."