NEWSLETTER
You know, sometimes life gives you lemons, and you do the right thing – make lemonade … only to then have life turn around and pee in your freshly made lemonade.
It’s not a perfect metaphor but that’s how it feels tonight after the Maple Leafs defeat the Blackhawks 5-4 in Toronto.
I think now we live in a world where Jonathan Toews scores goals again. It feels good. It feels right.
Jonathan Toews scores in back-to-back games after going 25 straight without a goal. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/5v0F6gTFmk
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 12, 2021
Toews nets his second goal of the season and now has goals in back-to-back games after starting the season without one in 25 games. Hockey is funny like that sometimes.
And sometimes Hockey is funny because it sets you up for a perfect tweet. After taking the opening lead, the Blackhawks take a couple of dumb penalties and the Maple Leafs make them pay. Scoring on two of those powerplays and adding two more over the next 20+ minutes of action, Toronto jumped out to a 4-1 lead. A 4-1 lead for the Maple Leafs might as well be like playing with an empty net. So naturally, I had to do something to change the Blackhawks’ fortune.
I’m gonna say it… It was 4-1…#Blackhawks #LeafsForever #CHIvsTOR
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 12, 2021
And just like that, the hockey Gods smiled upon the Blackhawks. Late in the second period, it was 4-2.
https://twitter.com/nbcsblackhawks/status/1469846037837791235?s=21
Then, early in the third period, it was 4-3.
https://twitter.com/nbcsblackhawks/status/1469852866882027521?s=21
And then, just like that, it was a tie game.
New Dad strength activated #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/vklm3929eg
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 12, 2021
The Blackhawks come back with three unanswered goals from Connor Murphy, Dominik Kubalík, and Jake McCabe, who just had his second child this week and they tied the game at 4-4. This was also a season-high four-goal performance for the Blackhawks with all four of their tallies tonight coming at 5v5 even-strength. It was also just the third time this season that Chicago had scored four goals in regulation.
It seemed as if the stars were aligning for the Blackhawks to produce an epic comeback and the Maple Leafs to have an epic collapse. But then…the hockey Gods showed their sense of humor…
https://twitter.com/tictactomar/status/1469858258437476353?s=21
I can’t even.
David Kämpf haunts his former club by scoring the flukiest of fluky goals and that is the difference in the game. 5-4 the Maple Leafs escape a game that the Blackhawks dominated, outside of the stupid penalties in the first period.
Chicago out-shot Toronto 35-26, had more high-danger chances (10-6), and had a higher expected goals-for (2.45-1.73) rate. Yet, they come away with no points in the standings. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves on 26 shots and misplayed one puck to ultimately doom the Blackhawks. They fall to 10-15-2 on the season after hanging around with one of the best teams in the league.
Find the full box score here.
