Well, that was fun.
The Chicago Blackhawks rallied from a dreadful start to knock off the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 at the United Center on Friday afternoon.
Toronto owned the first 20 minutes (more on that domination in a bit) and Nicholas Robertson took advantage of that to score the game’s first goal:
There was a brief respite for the Hawks when Jason Dickinson scored 49 seconds after Robertson’s goal:
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie Toronto took a quick 3-1 lead early in the second on goals by Calle Jarnkrok first and Ryan Reaves second:
As the game slowly started resembling Wednesday’s debacle in Columbus, the Blackhawks came to life and began taking the play to the Maple Leafs. Dickinson helped with his second goal of the game:
Chicago’s momentum carried early into the third period, when this Dickinson goal at the 15-second mark tied the game at three and completed Dickinson’s hat trick:
The goals gave way to fisticuffs in the middle of the third as a line brawl nearly broke out:
After several back-and-forth chances in the overtime period — including a two-post shot from William Nylander that didn’t find the back of the net — Kevin Korchinski set the United Center faithful home happy with his second career NHL goal:
Fun result over at 1901 W. Madison. Let’s talk about it.
Notes
- See that giant blue blob in front of the Hawks net on the Toronto heat map below? That’s a problem. In the first period alone, Toronto had 11 high-danger chances and 13 scoring chances, compared to just 1 and 2, respectively, for the Hawks. The Maple Leafs had an absurd EIGHTY-NINE-POINT-NINE percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5 play in the opening period. That it ended in a 1-1 deadlock is a small miracle. Toronto is a pretty good team and credit to the Hawks for bouncing back but they also shouldn’t need to sink to such depths before coming back up for air.
- On a related note, that’s one heckuva rebound performance from Arvid Soderblom after some shakier outings this season. Here’s hoping there’s more like that down the road from him.
- Dickinson reaped the most rewards — and credit to him for burying those golden opportunities — but his entire line was tenacious on the forecheck. Joey Anderson — who was just called up from Rockford– had several aggressive plays behind the Toronto net that led to free pucks, as did Nick Foligno. That trio was the only Blackhawks line to be above water in terms of possession, finishing with an 82.35 percent share of shot attempts, a 6-0 shot advantage and a sparkling 100 percent expected goal share. Most of their damage was done against the Matthew Knies/Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner line that accomplished precious little in this game. Fairly certain we’ll be seeing that line together in Chicago’s next game.
- Watching Kurashev, Bedard and Korchinski turn the 3-on-3 overtime into their own personal playground was a damn delight. It was also a nice turnaround from the rest of the game because none of those three players were particularly impressive during 5-on-5 play in regulation. Bedard’s line was buried all game, as was Korchinski’s D pairing with Connor Murphy.
- As mentioned in the top note, it’s that the Blackhawks responded in this game when it sure seemed like it was headed for another massive blowout. The Dickinson/Anderson/Foligno line should get much of the credit for that. Hopefully Sunday’s game against the Blues won’t require such a massive turnaround.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Jason Dickinson (CHI) — hat trick
- Kevin Korchinski (CHI) — GWG, 22:48 ice time
- Arvid Soderblom (CHI) — 34 saves on 37 shots (.919 SV%)
What’s Next
Chicago stays home to host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon at the United Center for a 1 p.m. puck drop.