A four-goal first period enabled the Chicago Blackhawks to take a 5-4 victory over the Maple Leafs, in Toronto on Wednesday night.
“For us, that’s all that matters is getting the two points really,” the Blackhawks’s Brendan Perlini said. “We played a really good first two periods and then let our foot off the gas, but the main thing is we got those two points. We’re in the chase (for the Stanley Cup Playoffs) so we just have to move on now and go again.”
Corey Crawford got the start for the Hawks and made 17 saves; he left the game after the second intermission due to illness.
Collin Delia made 26 saves and yielded three goals in the third period.
“It felt like an eternity, those final seconds felt like a half an hour,” Delia said. “I was sweating pretty heavily after the game. After skating pretty heavily this morning, it definitely felt like a full game that third period.”
Andreas Johnsson, Auston Matthews, and Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs.
“We put ourselves in a hole and we did our best to come back from it, but too little too late,” Rielly said. “When you look back at the start and the position we put ourselves in after the first period, that’s the problem. The last period is great, but you don’t want to be in that situation in the first place.”
Brandon Saad, Perini, Duncan Keith, Dominik Kahun, and Alex DeBrincat all scored for Chicago to help build a 5-0 lead in the second period.
“There’s no question we have to tighten up in all three zones and then play more like we did the last two periods where we started to work and wear the other team out,” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said.
Tavares scored i the third period to tighten the game a bit.
[WATCH:Â All Blackhawks vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Frederik Andersen got the start for the Leafs but did make it out of the locker room after the fist intermission; he made 10 saves in the opening frame and yielded four goals.
“We probably should have tied it with the amount of shots and chances we had,” Tavares said. “We did everything but tie it up. Pucks were bouncing around the crease, we just couldn’t find them in time.”
Garret Sparks made 24 saves the rest of the way.
You must be logged in to post a comment.