NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks played the Leafs tough in the opening 20 minutes. Both sides got a power play; the Leafs had a lot of chances, the Blackhawks did not. One poorly-timed line change allowed Auston Matthews (of all people) to get behind the defense and his goal was the difference after one period. Arvid Söderblom did a solid job, his skaters matched the Leafs’ nine shots on net but one goal was the difference.
Early in the second period the Blackhawks got two power plays that overlapped by 28 seconds. It was better than their earlier advantage but no dice. Chicago continued to put pressure on Anthony Stolarz (who stood on his head) but a totally blind shot by John Tavares somehow found the back of the net to extend the lead. The Blackhawks played a really good second period, out-shooting the Leafs 10-7 (shot attempts were 34-7 in favor of the Blackhawks according to Natural Stat Trick) but took a two-goal deficit to the room.
The Blackhawks’ bottom six came out buzzing to start the third period. The third line had a great shift to open the frame and then the fourth line was able to cash in a rebound with Lukas Reichel getting the goal. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks once again gave up a goal quickly after getting on the board as Fraser Minten scored 21 seconds after the Reichel goal. Matthew Knies scored into an empty net on a play that was awfully close to icing with under two minutes remaining.
Star 1: The Third Line
Jason Dickinson was on the ice for more than two minutes against Matthews’ line in the first period. The Leafs’ top line had zero shot attempts in 2:16 for Matthews, 2:33 for William Nylander and 2:36 for Matthew Knies against Dickinson. Thru two periods, that line had only attempted two shots while Dickinson was on the ice against them.
Maybe it’s the ice in Toronto, but this was maybe Ilya Mikheyev‘s best performance with the Blackhawks to date. He led Chicago with four shots on goal thru two periods and did a terrific job controlling the puck and attacking. Those two and Nick Foligno were really good in the opening 40 minutes.
Star 2: Lukas Reichel
The Blackhawks’ fourth line was also very good in this game and Reichel got the Blackhawks on the board early in the third period.
#Blackhawks get on the board
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 3, 2024
🚨 Lukas Reichel
🍎 Pat Maroon, TI Brodie
pic.twitter.com/JWuMligY9I
Star 3: TJ Brodie
Credit where it’s due, folks. Brodie hasn’t been great a lot of the time since joining the Blackhawks but he had probably his best game since joining the team back where he played most recently.
Key Takeaways
- Full marks to Stolarz. He was magnificent for the Leafs tonight.
- Just before the Leafs’ second goal, Söderblom wandered way to far out of the net and things got crazy for a moment. He made a couple really good saves and then the blind whip toward the net got in. The Blackhawks’ goaltender was credited with a shot on goal in the first period, too.
- Nolan Allan returned to the lineup and was solid again. He had a huge hit in the neutral zone in the second period to slow a Toronto rush; Allan was credited with a team-high four hits in the first two periods.
- The Blackhawks power play was really good on Sunday and had been hot recently. It was not good tonight. At all.
