The Chicago Blackhawks looked dead in the water after a scary scene early in Ottawa tonight. Ottawa’s Parker Kelly boarded Murphy’s head right into the glass. It looked like he might’ve been briefly knocked out, and his Blackhawks teammates immediately called for medical assistance for Murphy. Murphy was stretchered off the ice, and the Blackhawks did not respond well.
Shortly after the hit, they looked sluggish and allowed a Connor Brown short-handed goal, piling onto their slow tempo. When Zach Sanford delivered a big blow to Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews had seen enough and dropped the gloves to fight the six-foot-four, 210-pound Ottawa forward.
https://twitter.com/TheTylerKasch/status/1502809172647108611?s=20&t=RQ_8wOKKJ4nuaAyEqnlzcA
Toews, not known for his hands, took a beating from Sanford. The fight didn’t have an immediate effect as Thomas Chabot added another Ottawa goal to make it 2-0 heading into the locker room, but it did eventually.
With concern for Toews growing for Toews (who just missed a month in concussion protocol) who didn’t skate another shift in the first period following the fight, the captain returned to the ice to open the second period. When I tell you he flipped the switch for the Blackhawks in this one, HE FLIPPED THE SWITCH!
First, Toews got the Blackhawks on the board with a goal just 58 seconds into the frame. Toews goal was assisted by Patrick Kane (his 10th in his last six games), who moved into sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks’ all-time scoring list.
Kane is officially second all-time in franchise history with 1,154 career points pic.twitter.com/W3zc1MtPah
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 13, 2022
I guess he was OK, right?
If we weren’t convinced, he made sure to reaffirm things just minutes later when he scored on the power play to even things up at two-a-piece 2:39 into the middle frame. Riding the momentum of the Toews fight and scoring surge, the Blackhawks continued to take it to Ottawa in the second period, scoring twice more with Caleb Jones and Sam Lafferty each potting one as the Blackhawks took a 4-3 lead and the momentum into the locker room for the second intermission in Ottawa.
Brotherly Love! Caleb Jones gives the Hawks the lead after a beautiful pass from Seth pic.twitter.com/VbP1kHKhQh
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 13, 2022
Caleb Jones wasn’t done there, scoring his second of the game (he had two goals all season entering tonight’s contest) midway through the third period to put the Blackhawks up 5-3 over the Senators.
Dylan Strome added one more for good measure just minutes later on a deflection from a Seth Jones shot, giving the Blackhawks a 6-3 lead. Quite simply, it was all Blackhawks in the third period. They parlayed their second-period momentum into a dominant performance on both sides of the ice and never gave Ottawa a sniff at winning this one. Jonathan Toews’ first two-goal performance since January 18, 2020, was the turning point in what was very quickly becoming a disheartening performance for the Blackhawks.
From the trainer’s room:
• Brett Connolly was not transported to the hospital and was under the team’s medical supervision in the training room as of the second period.
• Tyler Johnson took a puck to the ear in the first period and left the game in the concussion protocol.
The Blackhawks are off until Tuesday when they host the Boston Bruins at the United Center.
You can find the complete box score here!