THREE THINGS: New Dad Goal, Defend to Win and Marching On

The Blackhawks bounced back against one of the league's hottest teams on Tuesday night, posting a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, who entered the night with points in 13 of their last 14 outings and winners of three straight games.
Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat tallied just 3:33 apart early in the second period and Kevin Lankinen was essentially perfect on the night, stopping 31 shots with the lone goal against coming from a deflection off his own defender at the backdoor late in the middle frame.

"Really pleased with our resilience and the response," head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "I thought we worked really hard. Obviously they're an excellent team... Overall, we competed hard and that's a great start. It gives you a chance to win and we were able to come through."

Here are three takeaways from the win:

NEW DAD GOAL

In his first game back in the lineup after the birth of his daughter, Weslie, on Sunday afternoon, Strome scored a goal for his new baby girl.
"It's pretty crazy becoming a dad and staying at the hospital and sleeping there," Strome said. "Not the most sleep in the last couple nights, but it was kind of expected and I actually felt pretty good today. It was a pretty crazy last couple days, but everyone's healthy and everyone's happy and it's a pretty cool feeling."

Kirby Dach chipped a puck off the boards in the neutral zone to spring Strome and Mattias Janmark on a 2-on-1, where the first-time father looked off a pass to his lineman before keeping it himself and putting a writer past the glove of Alex Nedeljkovic for a 1-0 lead.
The goal, Strome's sixth of the year and second time this season he's bounced back from an absence with a tally, was Strome's 99th point as a Blackhawk in his 141st game with the club.

"A very special moment for him," DeBrincat said after Sunday's game of his longtime friend becoming a dad. "It's definitely a big moment in his life and obviously congrats to him and excited to meet her."

DEFEND TO WIN

After being stifled offensively by the Predators over the weekend, Chicago used much of the same script to close out Tuesday's game over the final two periods.
The Blackhawks were on their heels for much of the opening 20 minutes, being outshot 13-5. Kevin Lankinen stood tall on all 13 shots and allowed a second-period rebound to take place with a pair of goals in the opening 4:02 of the middle frame to take control of the game. From there, Chicago shut it down defensively in the third, allowing just seven shots on goal in the final 20.
"I think we can build on the whole game," Colliton said. "The first period, we didn't create much at all and they had some chances, but we bent but didn't break. I really liked the last two periods. We had a push back right away (to start the second). It's a big goal to get the lead. I thought we built some confidence from that and then we defended hard."
"It's fun to win and sometimes you can defend well and get wins and the last half of the game, we didn't give up that many chances," said Connor Murphy, who was on the ice for nearly half of the third period to close things out. "We definitely gave up some to start, but we'll think more positively when we win."
It might not have been the prettiest way to pick up a crucial two points at home, but it was an effective one that got things back on the right foot after a weekend sweep.
"We've had some games where we were excellent and didn't get paid off at all because of mental mistakes or we didn't manage the game or whatever it may be," Colliton added. "I think tonight was the opposite of that. We did a lot of little things that allowed us to get a win and that's what you need to do against an excellent team."

MARCHING ON

The Blackhawks closed out the month of March on Tuesday night, completing their account with a 5-8-1 record, good for 11 standings points, after a 9-3-1 line in the month of February.
Despite the rough start to March, Chicago closed out the month with wins in three of their last five games -- all by closing out the entire third period with the lead, something the team had some trouble with in previous weeks.
"I think we talked about a lot of stuff this morning as a team," Murphy said of closing out games. "How to be better knowing these games are on the line, how to play as a group together and it seemed like we were able to pack it in understanding that every puck and battle you're in is a valuable one to the game and to the team. It seemed like we showed that a little bit more tonight."
Thursday's meeting with Carolina to kick off the month of April will also see the Blackhawks reach the two-thirds mark in their season schedule.