Blackhawks Outlast the Sharks in 9-Round Shootout!

The Blackhawks and Sharks lived up to their billing as the worst in the NHL last night but delivered an entertaining finish for those that stuck around that long.

Author

Patrick K. Flowers
January 17, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

I learned yesterday that DMVs everywhere suck equally. I had to transfer my driver's license and license plates from Illinois to Nevada, and I spent five-plus hours at the DMV, pretty much killing an entire workday.

I would have brought my laptop if I had known I would be there that long. You live, and you learn.

Anyway, it did give me plenty of time to read things. I discovered something very interesting on X, which I’ll share shortly. But first, let’s talk about that Blackhawks game last night.

The Blackhawks and Sharks came into last night’s game as the two worst teams in the NHL, and they lived up to the billing for most of the night. But hey, when’s the last time you said you watched a nine-round shootout the night before?

Even though it was largely because the players trotted out by both sides just aren’t very good, it was an entertaining few minutes before Boris Katchouck scored the game-winning goal to give the Blackhawks two points over the Sharks.

In case you were wondering, the NHL record for the longest shootout is 20 rounds between the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers in 2014. The longest Blackhawks shootout that I can remember off the top of my head was the 11-round shootout against the Dallas Stars in 2013. Ben Smith scored the game-winner in that one.

Cole Gutman had a nice game for the Blackhawks last night. He scored a goal and had one heck of a fight with Kyle Burroughs after the latter nailed Lukas Reichel from behind in the second period.

Petr Mrazek stopped 35 of 36 shots in regulation, 2 of 2 in overtime and eight of the nine that he saw in the shootout.

Tab has more on last night’s victory over the Sharks:

Blackhawks 2, Sharks 1 (SO) — Three Stars, Key Takeaways - Bleacher Nation

The worst two teams in the NHL played to about what you might expect based on their position in the standings.

This is a heck of a thread on quarterbacks taken first overall in the draft and their success in the NFL

Dave Kluge from Football Guys Fantasy Football put together a helluva thread on the quarterbacks taken at No. 1 and elsewhere in the first round in the last 30 years.

Kluge’s thread caught my attention because we constantly hear about the rate at which QBs taken No. 1 overall in the draft bust in the NFL with a high frequency.

I will share the first tweet below so that you can check it out yourself, but here are the key takeaways since you won’t be able to see all of the tweets within the thread in the embed.

Kluge defined “success” by the following five benchmarks:

  • 4,000+ passing yards in a season

  • 30+ TDs in a season

  • 80+ career starts in the NFL

  • Winning a playoff game

  • Making the Pro Bowl

In the last 30 years, QBs drafted No. 1 overall (20 total) have hit those benchmarks at a very high rate. Here’s how that looks:

  • 4,000+ yards: 70%

  • 30+ TDs: 45%

  • 80+ starts: 81%

  • Playoff win: 70%

  • Pro Bowl: 70%

Pretty good, right? According to these benchmarks, Bryce Young (still plenty to be determined there), David Carr, JaMarcus Russell, and Tim Couch are the only busts by these benchmarks.

Of the 16 remaining QBs, eight have already hit all of those benchmarks, with Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, and Kyler Murray not there yet but on their way. When they get there, 11 of 16 quarterbacks have hit all the benchmarks, five have hit some, and four have hit none (busts), one of whom is only one season into his NFL career.

Kluge also looked at QBs drafted 2-32. There were 63 quarterbacks taken in that range in the previous 30 years. The dip in success rates in hitting those benchmarks was massive.

  • 4,000+ yards: 25%

  • 30+ TDs: 24%

  • 80+ starts: 35%

  • Playoff win: 38%

  • Pro Bowl: 33%

Kluge even trimmed these picks into smaller groups, separated by picks 2-5 and 2-10, and the results didn’t help much.

A Chicago tie-in, Justin Fields has hit none of these benchmarks and would qualify as a bust if he was a No. 1 pick by these standards.

Probably the most interesting point from all of the data is the increase in chances of hitting on the quarterback position when you take one at No. 1 as opposed to trading back and selecting another quarterback in the first round:

  •  4,000+ yards: 2.7x likelier to reach this benchmark. 

  • 30+ TDs: 2x likelier to reach this benchmark. 

  • 80+ starts: 2.1x likelier to reach this benchmark. 

  • Playoff win: 2x likelier to reach this benchmark. 

  • Pro Bowl: 1.6x likelier to reach this benchmark.

Of course, as Kluge rightfully points out, these are very arbitrary benchmarks, and most would define the ultimate success of a franchise quarterback by what he wins (or doesn’t). Still, if the idea is to draft a quarterback who will throw for 4,000 yards and 30 TDs, make a Pro Bowl, win a playoff game, and be a starter for five-plus seasons. In that case, the likelihood of a player taken at 1.1 is significantly greater than the rest of the first round, contrary to what people on X would like you to believe.

None of this is a perfect science, but it’s a pretty eye-opening research job by Kluge. So, a big hat tip.

Yesterday’s Best

CHICAGO BEARS

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

CHICAGO BULLS

CHICAGO CUBS

What’s on deck?

  • The Blackhawks travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres tonight. Puck drop is set for 6:30 PM CT on NBC Sports Chicago and ESPN+.