Come Out and Play: Blackhawks 6, Senators 3

Trying to rid themselves of the bad taste left after their last loss, the Chicago Blackhawks entered Saturday evening’s contest against the Ottawa Senators looking for a get-right game, as well as two points on the road.

After a very eventful evening, Chicago was ultimately successful, leaving the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa with a 6-3 victory.

Early in the first period, Connor Murphy suffered an injury and was stretchered off the ice after being boarded by Parker Kelly. It was a difficult play to watch, and ultimately shook up the players and those in attendance. Murphy gave the crowd a thumbs up while being taken off the ice which provided some hope and a subtle layer of comfort before the game resumed.

Although Blackhawks were awarded a 5-minute power play due to Kelly’s major penalty, the Senators opened the scoring with a short-handed goal by Connor Brown.

Late in the period, Thomas Chabot scored, giving the Senators a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Just 58 seconds into the second period, Patrick Kane set up Jonathan Toews — in true vintage fashion — making it 2-1, in favor of the Sens. This assist put Kane solely in second place for Blackhawks’ all-time points.

Shortly after the Hawks first goal, Toews scored on the power play, assisted by Kane once more, tying the game 2-2.

Caleb Jones broke the tie, scoring Chicago’s third unanswered goal, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead.

Nick Paul tied the game for Ottawa, putting a nice move on none other than Caleb Jones, making the game 3-3.

The Hawks broke the tie once more, when Sam Lafferty scored after a Blackhawks face-off win, putting the Hawks up 4-3.

Caleb Jones scored his second goal of the game in the third period. Dylan Strome followed up with a goal of his own, which ultimately sealed a 6-3 win for the Blackhawks.

Notes

• First and foremost, here’s hoping Connor Murphy will be okay.
• The Hawks are starting to actually find the back of the net. Maybe too little too late, but at the very least, it’s entertaining and nice to see guys like Toews and Strome get going.
• The Senators’ new jerseys, which are basically a modernized version of their original 90’s uniforms, are so much better than their previous look.
• Tyler Johnson left the game with an injury after the first period. The Hawks played two entire periods with 5 defensemen and 11 forwards. That’s a tall task, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
• I don’t want to dive into the numbers too much here. This is a game the Hawks should've won. They started slow, a lot happened between whistles but they ultimately got things going and hung six on a younger, less experienced team. It was a bit sloppy but a win is a win.
• Kane set up Toews twice, for consecutive goals. Toews, seemingly emotional after the Murphy hit, fought in defense of Kirby Dach. The Toews we know and love is still there and came out to play tonight.

Game Charts

Three stars

1. Jonathan Toews (CHI) — 2 G
2. Caleb Jones (CHI) — 2 G
3. Patrick Kane (CHI) — 3 A

What’s next

The Blackhawks host the Bruins on Tuesday night at the United Center for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.