It was a matchup that we all had been talking about. The Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad and Artemi Panarin of the Columbus Blue Jackets dueling against their former teams early on in the 2017-18 season was something to watch out for due to each’s incredible talent for scoring and helping their teammates score. And Saad was first to show why he shouldn’t have been traded.
Just over six minutes into the game, Patrick Sharp took a slap shot from the right side of Chicago’s offensive zone on a power play. Joonas Korpisalo was able to stuff that shot, but Jonathan Toews was right there to cause a scramble for the puck in front of the net.