Back and forth
Blackhawks from Page 12 2. Max Domi might be a pest, but you want him to be your pest.
It seems like all of Hawks fandom has gotten collective amnesia about past Domi moments, such as when he rag-dolled Connor Murphy as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets in April 2021.
He may be a menace, but now he’s the Hawks’ menace.
That was on display after Patrick Kane was simultaneously tripped by the Wild’s Brandon Duhaime and hit from behind and knocked headfirst into the boards by Tyson Jost, who received a boarding penalty.
Domi jumped in and tore into Jost, with Domi drawing instigating, fighting and misconduct penalties.
“If something like that happens, you know he’s going to be coming,” said Athanasiou, Domi’s linemate.
“He’s real tough. He’s real strong.
And in those situations, when you see red, he’s just going to be coming hard.
“It was good to see him stick up for our teammate like that.”
Richardson had “absolutely” no issues with Domi’s reaction.
“We’ll never say anything about anybody defending a teammate, sticking up for a teammate or taking an aggressive penalty in our game plan,” Richardson said. “If somebody takes an undisciplined penalty for no reason because they’re sucking out and can’t take it, that’s something we can’t afford to have.
“We’ll kill off the ones that are looking after our own or saving a goal or diving, trip or something on a breakaway. The ones that hurt you are the ones that are undisciplined and unnecessary.”
3. Andreas Athanasiou showed some killer instinct.
“Double A” charges into the zone but tends to meet resistance when it comes to finishing — or so that’s the book on Athanasiou. At times he seems to second-guess himself or cost a rush opportunity by not making a quicker decision to shoot or pass.
But there have been moments lately like Sunday’s highlight-reel goal.
In the third period, Athanasiou took a feed from Kane, toe-dragged in front of Matt Dumba and backhanded the puck over Marc-André Fleury.
“It was just a one-on-one and it worked out well,” Athanasiou said. “I kind of just blacked out in the situation and tried to make a play and I just kept working and the puck kept coming back to me.
Definitely a feel-good when you get a scoring opportunity like that.”
“That was a pretty special goal for sure,” Richardson said. “He’s very dangerous like that. Sometimes he has to realize that, when he doesn’t have the speed, stickhandling through the neutral zone, he gets himself in trouble sometimes.
He’s a bright guy.”
4. Toews had a ‘showdown’ with Marc-André Fleury.
A couple, actually.
Toews got the better of the first encounter, a second-period goal.
But Fleury got the style points in the second, putting a little extra on a glove save against Toews.
“Yeah, I felt like he was trying to stick it back to me there,” Toews said with a smile. “I don’t know if he knew it was me right away, but he definitely embellished that one a little bit.”
5. Boris Katchouk made an impression.
Katchouk (left ankle) made his debut against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday after being activated off injured reserve, but he really made his mark Sunday.
The 6-foot-2, 206-pound forward leveled Frederick Gaudreau in the first period. Some of the Wild players mixed it up with him after.
Katchouk’s aggressiveness got him into trouble in the third when he mistimed his check on Jon Merrill and ended up getting a tripping penalty.
Still, he tied Jarred Tinordi with a team-high six hits in eight fewer minutes (9:14).
It seems like all of Hawks fandom has gotten collective amnesia about past Domi moments, such as when he rag-dolled Connor Murphy as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets in April 2021.
He may be a menace, but now he’s the Hawks’ menace.
That was on display after Patrick Kane was simultaneously tripped by the Wild’s Brandon Duhaime and hit from behind and knocked headfirst into the boards by Tyson Jost, who received a boarding penalty.
Domi jumped in and tore into Jost, with Domi drawing instigating, fighting and misconduct penalties.
“If something like that happens, you know he’s going to be coming,” said Athanasiou, Domi’s linemate.
“He’s real tough. He’s real strong.
And in those situations, when you see red, he’s just going to be coming hard.
“It was good to see him stick up for our teammate like that.”
Richardson had “absolutely” no issues with Domi’s reaction.
“We’ll never say anything about anybody defending a teammate, sticking up for a teammate or taking an aggressive penalty in our game plan,” Richardson said. “If somebody takes an undisciplined penalty for no reason because they’re sucking out and can’t take it, that’s something we can’t afford to have.
“We’ll kill off the ones that are looking after our own or saving a goal or diving, trip or something on a breakaway. The ones that hurt you are the ones that are undisciplined and unnecessary.”
3. Andreas Athanasiou showed some killer instinct.
“Double A” charges into the zone but tends to meet resistance when it comes to finishing — or so that’s the book on Athanasiou. At times he seems to second-guess himself or cost a rush opportunity by not making a quicker decision to shoot or pass.
But there have been moments lately like Sunday’s highlight-reel goal.
In the third period, Athanasiou took a feed from Kane, toe-dragged in front of Matt Dumba and backhanded the puck over Marc-André Fleury.
“It was just a one-on-one and it worked out well,” Athanasiou said. “I kind of just blacked out in the situation and tried to make a play and I just kept working and the puck kept coming back to me.
Definitely a feel-good when you get a scoring opportunity like that.”
“That was a pretty special goal for sure,” Richardson said. “He’s very dangerous like that. Sometimes he has to realize that, when he doesn’t have the speed, stickhandling through the neutral zone, he gets himself in trouble sometimes.
He’s a bright guy.”
4. Toews had a ‘showdown’ with Marc-André Fleury.
A couple, actually.
Toews got the better of the first encounter, a second-period goal.
But Fleury got the style points in the second, putting a little extra on a glove save against Toews.
“Yeah, I felt like he was trying to stick it back to me there,” Toews said with a smile. “I don’t know if he knew it was me right away, but he definitely embellished that one a little bit.”
5. Boris Katchouk made an impression.
Katchouk (left ankle) made his debut against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday after being activated off injured reserve, but he really made his mark Sunday.
The 6-foot-2, 206-pound forward leveled Frederick Gaudreau in the first period. Some of the Wild players mixed it up with him after.
Katchouk’s aggressiveness got him into trouble in the third when he mistimed his check on Jon Merrill and ended up getting a tripping penalty.
Still, he tied Jarred Tinordi with a team-high six hits in eight fewer minutes (9:14).
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