In Chicago, the Blackhawks took a 3-0 lead into the third period on Tuesday night, and then held off the Florida Panthers for a 4-2 win.
It was the fourth straight win for the Hawks.
Patrick Kane had a goal in the win.
“It’s fun,” Kane said. “I think last year we didn’t win a game until our 10th or 11th game, so it’s nice to get off to this start this year. I think when you get off to a good start, you can really propel that throughout the season, so hopefully that’s the case.”
Alex Stalock made 29 saves for Chicago.
The Panthers rallied for two goals in the third period to cut the Chicago lead to 3-2.
“There’s going to be a bunch of opportunities to look and say, ‘If that had gone, what would have happened?'” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “You know what? [The Blackhawks] played well. They defended well, they blocked shots, they got in the lanes.”
Eetu Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk struck for the late Panthers goals.
“We battled to the end, but we had to because we were so bad in the first two periods,” Tkachuk said. “We put ourselves in a terrible position. Definitely our worst two periods of the season. We’ve got the talent when we want to play the right way and are playing aggressive, not sitting back and being smart with pucks. We can do what we did there in the third and take over a period and give ourselves a chance to win even though we had no business winning the hockey game with that start.”
The Panthers were 0-for-6 on the power play.
“Like our willingness to sacrifice for our team and our goalie, and especially the second period was huge,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “But even the third period in a crucial time in the game, blocking shots, guys are standing up and [on the] bench cheering. It becomes contagious, and then it continues into the 5-on-6 situation, which is like a penalty kill. I think it becomes like a bit of an identity for us that we’re willing to do.”
Taylor Raddysh gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Kane extended the lead to 2-0 with seconds left in the frame.
Philipp Kurashev pushed the advantage to 3-0 in the middle frame.
“Not good tonight, but we’ll know more tomorrow,” Richardson said. “He’s been so good for us. We just hope it’s not really long. You know he’s a tough cookie. He’s been great statistically for us, but watching him play away from the puck this year has been really inspirational for younger players on the team, and he’s leading by example.
“He’s not a big guy (5-foot-8, 185 pounds), but he’s physical. And he’s a presence, he’s a voice. He’s got the experience of winning and what it takes to win, so definitely if he’s out for a bit, we’re going to miss that. We’re just crossing our fingers tonight for that.”
After the Panthers closed the gap to one goal, Johnathan Toews hit an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves in the Florida loss.
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