THREE THINGS: Blackhawks beat Hurricanes 5-2

Two goals from forward Victor Ejdsell helped spur the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in their second game of the 2018 Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament.
The Hurricanes took the 1-0 lead at 10:12 of the first period when Julien Gauthier buried a puck from in front. The goal came on a 5-on-3 power play.
The Blackhawks came close to tying the game a few times. The first was when Dominik Kahun jumped into the offensive zone and caused a turnover before he set up Phillip Kurashev for a nice shot.
With less than five minutes remaining in the opening frame, MacKenzie Entwistle had a beauty tip from out in front, but the goaltender held onto the bobbling puck.

To start the second, the Blackhawks had 1:48 of power-play time and they capitalized just 25 seconds in. Ejdsell sniped his first of the tournament from the far circle, assisted by Entwistle and Henri Jokiharju.
The Blackhawks scored another power-play goal at 4:33 of the middle frame, and then Ejdsell followed up his earlier tally with an even-strength one at 11:41 of the period, which gave the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead.

Hurricanes 2018 second-overall pick Andrei Svechnikov would score one before the end of the second to make it 3-2. Shots were 22-12 in favor of Chicago through 40.
In the third, Fortin set up Dominik Kahun on the doorstep for the team's fourth goal. Nicolas Beaudin put the icing on the cake with an empty-netter with 57 seconds left.
Here are three takeaways from the victory.

1. EJDSELL'S BIG DAY

This one is obvious, but Ejdsell's night was impressive not only because of his two goals but his overall play. He wasn't just shooting and scoring, he was getting in the right positions to do so.
Here is coach Jeremy Colliton on Ejdsell's day:
"I thought he was more involved. He skated better, got into battles, won more 50-50 situations, so he had the puck, his linemates had the puck. He got himself in position to get his shot off and it's pretty deadly, pretty heavy. If he gets himself in position to get a good look at the net, it's got a good chance at going in."

Ejdsell's linemate Entwistle also had a good night and nearly saw a pretty deflection find the back of the net.
After the game, we spoke with Vice President of Hockey Operations/Team Affiliates Mark Bernard (full interview coming tomorrow) and he described Ejdsell as "such a special player."
The Blackhawks brass was thrilled to get him as part of the Ryan Hartman trade with Nashville and, so far, he's showing why.

2. FORTIN'S PLAY

For the second day in a row, Fortin is deserving of recognition. The 21-year-old forward was fast to pucks all game, he was involved, he made plays and he earned praise from Colliton post-game.

Fortin's assist on Kahun's goal came at a big moment. It was only a 3-2 game at the time and the Hurricanes could have easily battled back. That goal was a bit of a dagger.
Colliton said after the game that if Fortin can stay healthy, having battled injuries in the past, he'll be able to show how valuable he is.

3. GRAVEL WITH THE GLOVE

He made 23 saves on the night, but Alexis Gravel's best stuff came late.
One, in particular, happened when the goaltender had a Hurricanes player towering over him right out in front but he was able to somehow track the puck through traffic, stick his glove out and make a big save in a close game.
The 18-year-old netminder was taken 162nd overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. His first game in a Blackhawks sweater was one to build off of.
"Alexis today, I thought made some outstanding saves when the game was really close," said Bernard. "He got us the W."
The Blackhawks have the day off on Sunday and next play the St. Louis Blues prospects on Monday at 6:30 p.m. CT.