The Blackhawks’ long-term domination of the Ducks finally ended earlier this week.
But the Jets’ long-term domination of the Hawks only continued Saturday.
A three-goal second period powered Winnipeg to a 4-1 home win, completing their season-series sweep.
The Hawks were outscored by a 18-4 margin over the four-game series, in which Jets star goalie Connor Hellebuyck conceded almost nothing and Jets star defenseman Josh Morrissey looked almost unstoppable.
Morrissey fittingly scored the first goal Saturday by intercepting a weak pass from Jason Dickinson, beating Dickinson off the wall and into the slot and then ripping a backhand shot past a screened Petr Mrazek.
Morrissey then added an assist on Blake Wheeler’s power-play tip-in goal that made it 2-0 — which turned out to be the official game-winner — and thus finished with nine points against the Hawks this season.
Tyler Johnson scored the Hawks’ lone goal by depositing a rebound during a third-period push. He recorded 11 shot attempts and five on goal; Philipp Kurashev was also very active with seven attempts and five on goal. The Hawks could dent Hellebuyck (31 saves) no further, though, and eventually conceded an empty-net goal to seal the loss.
“They’re a very talented team offensively,” coach Luke Richardson said. “The couple mistakes we made in the second period, they really capitalized on. But I loved our first period, the way we skated and played, and I really liked our push in the third.”
The Hawks have now lost 14 of their last 17 meetings against the Jets (dating back to April 2018), including eight of the last nine (dating back to February 2020).
Defenseman Jarred Tinordi provided a bright spot by returning to the lineup after missing nearly two months recovering from face surgery, logging 11:28 of ice time on the third pairing with Caleb Jones. He daringly fought Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry in the third period but emerged unscathed.
“He knew he could give us a little bit of a boost of energy,” Richardson said. “It shows a lot of guts.”
