The Chicago Blackhawks strike first against the San Jose Sharks

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Joshua Deeds
October 17, 2024 (9:59 PM)

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The Chicago Blackhawks have opened the scoring, with Taylor Hall who struck first blood during the team's home opener against the San Jose Sharks.

Hall capitalized on a stretch pass from veteran defenseman TJ Brodie who made the Sharks pay for their terrible coverage in the neutral zone.

Hall used his speed to clear the defenders and get a clear shot on Vitek Vanacek and put the Blackhawks up 1-0.

Fans and pundits were unsure if Hall who'd been out long-term last season would return healthy and ready to contribute to the Blackhawks rebuild.

If this shows anything, it means he could end up taking Nick Foligno's spot on the top line, if he has anything to say about it.

Hall only played 10 games for the Blackhawks last season, posting 4 points, and would be removed from play after suffering an ACL injury that would put him out of the lineup for the rest of the year.

He seems to have healed up nicely, as his wheels worked well on that goal.

He reportedly made his injuries worse last year trying to play through them and has taken advantage of his time off to heal up fully.

It doesn't limit him now, «but you can see it,» Hall said, rubbing the pointy bulge on top of the shoulder.
«
It was a grade three Grade 3 (AC sprain),» he said. «It was a bit worse of an injury than I initially thought and probably needed more time off than I took. But I was in a tough spot. I was with a new team, and you don't want to get injured the second game and miss a bunch of games, so I probably came back a tad early, and the injury was worse than what I was kind of told.»

Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo hit Hall in the Hawks' second game of the 2023-24 season. He missed the third game in Montreal but he played in the next three.

The Hawks placed Hall on injured reserve Oct. 24, and at the time, coach Luke Richardson said Hall was upgraded from initially week-to-week to day-to-day.
In fact, Richardson said at the time that Hall told him that «he's a quick healer.»

Can Hall return to form and score 60 points like he did for the Boston Bruins in 2021-2022?