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The Blackhawks<\/a> earned their first win of the season Monday, beating the Mammoth 3-1, despite putting forth their sloppiest and least emotional effort so far.<\/p>\n Sometimes in hockey, that\u2019s the way it goes. And after feeling robbed of positive results in the last two games, perhaps it represented cosmic justice for the Hawks.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, even though we maybe didn\u2019t have so much puck [possession] the whole time, our details on the defensive side were really good, and that\u2019s something we\u2019ve been working on,\u201d forward Andre Burakovsky said.<\/p>\n Nick Foligno found a wide-open Burakovsky for the game-deciding power-play goal with 11:05 to play, and Ilya Mikheyev (two goals) and goalie Spencer Knight (22 saves on 23 shots) continued their strong individual starts to the year. <\/p>\n Coach Jeff Blashill earned his first victory as Hawks coach, too. He has earned heaps of praise from his players.<\/p>\n \u201cI like him as a coach and a person,\u201d Knight said. \u201cI really appreciate his eye for details. [He\u2019s] building a style that is sustainable over time \u2014 to win not just one hockey game in October, but…that can win continuously over the course of a season and hopefully into the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n The second period wasn\u2019t pretty as the Hawks fell into a snowball effect of shifts stuck in their defensive zone, with poor ice conditions complicating attempts to exit the zone cleanly.<\/p>\n They tightened up in the third period, however, and didn\u2019t let the Mammoth push too hard for an equalizer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would love to create tons, but the recipe to win in this league on a consistent basis is to give up very few chances,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cWe bent a little bit without breaking, and that\u2019s something we\u2019re going to have to continue to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Hawks defenseman Alex Vlasic is having a tougher time on land than on ice right now as he recovers from his leg laceration.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s honestly still pretty stiff and sore,\u201d Vlasic said. \u201cI don\u2019t really know when it\u2019s going to feel any better. I\u2019m hoping it just magically goes away. But skating, I don\u2019t really notice it too much. It\u2019s just walking that\u2019s the biggest annoyance.\u201d<\/p>\n At least Vlasic is lucky he\u2019s a hockey player, not a marathoner, because the Hawks have needed the stability he provides over their last three games.<\/p>\n Although Blashill has tried his best to spread the work around his inexperienced defensive corps \u2014 dressing seven defensemen again Monday to help with that \u2014 there\u2019s no doubt he relies on Vlasic, who\u2019s relatively experienced even as a 24-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cI know [Alex is] not old, but in our \u2018D\u2019 corps, he is,\u201d Blashill said recently. \u201cAnd he also plays a very mature game. There\u2019s not a lot of peaks and valleys in his game. That is definitely a steadying presence.\u201d<\/p>\nStabilizing force<\/b><\/h3>\n
Breakthrough coming?<\/b><\/h3>\n