Blackhawks' great road effort erased in 8 seconds by Maple Leafs

The Chicago Blackhawks played a tremendous road game. Without their leading scorer and most dynamic player, they did everything they needed to do to win a hockey game. They simplified their attack, got in on the forecheck, and played excellent team defense. That game plan helped them build a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes left to play, thanks to goals by Wyatt Kaiser and Jason Dickinson.

Then it fell apart in the third period. An aimless Toronto Maple Leafs squad breathed some life into a dead Scotiabank Arena when Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot from the point got through heavy traffic. Later in the frame, Auston Matthews tied the game on the power play. Then, eight seconds later, Dakota Joshua scored the game-winning goal.

First of all, I have no idea what Spencer Knight is doing here by kicking the puck back into the middle of the ice. Secondly, this is a play by Louis Crevier that should lead to a serious reduction in his ice time. He played that completely wrong, then got outmuscled and allowed Joshua to get the shot. An inexcusable play.

“Obviously, it’s a gut punch at the end,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “We played a great game and probably deserved to win for 56 minutes. The reality is, if we play like that on a consistent basis, we are going to win lots of games. You have to understand the process, and we have to go back at it. We’re going to have to do a job of having a short-term memory.”

Defense Leads to Offense

Blashill has preached that defense leads to offense since his introductory press conference last May. The Blackhawks bought into that philosophy early in the season and benefited from it. However, they’ve gone away from playing sound defensive hockey in the past few games. Now, with Connor Bedard out of the lineup, they need to embrace that mentality more than ever.

“When you lose scoring punch, it’s got to heighten your defensive awareness,” Blashill said. “Because if you don’t tighten up in those areas, it’s hard to score at the same rate when you lose somebody like that. I think that is something our team needs to continue to improve at, with or without Connor. We need to make sure we are becoming a really good checking team. So, hopefully, there’s a greater awareness there.”

The Blackhawks listened and played excellent team defense, which makes the game's ending sting even more. Even the handful of times when the Maple Leafs got extended offensive zone shifts, they didn’t give up many shots or chances. Unfortunately, all the effort was wasted in an eight-second span.

Frank Nazar exemplified what Blashill is looking for out of his forwards. Early in the first period, he used his stick to prevent a scoring chance by Auston Matthews from in close. Midway through the middle frame, he used his speed to cover about 30 feet in the blink of an eye to knock the puck away from John Tavares in the slot.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Nick Lardis was less noticeable tonight than he was in his NHL debut on Saturday. He had just one shot on goal and two shot attempts. His line with Oliver Moore and Ryan Greene was effective. About three minutes after the Maple Leafs’ first goal, they had an extended shift in the offensive zone where they were relentless on the forecheck. The trio had a 47.06 Corsi for percentage (CF%), did not allow a goal, and were even 5-5 in shots on goal. However, they gave up six scoring chances while only producing two, and had a 3-0 disadvantage in high-danger scoring chances.

• The fourth line of Colton Dach, Dominic Toninato, and Ryan Donato played a decent game. They helped produce the first goal of the game. They were even at 50 CF% and held the Maple Leafs to only three scoring chances. However, Toninato’s boneheaded penalty led to the game-tying goal. That line will look much better when Nick Foligno returns. You can bet he won’t be guilty of ripping Nicolas Robinson’s stick out of his hands with less than four minutes to play.

• Even though they allowed a goal late in the game, the penalty kill was fantastic again. Ilya Mikheyev set up Jason Dickinson, who had a goal disallowed earlier in the night, for the Blackhawks third shorthanded goal of the season. Moments later, Teuvo Teravainen nearly scored another shortie but just missed. The game-tying goal was a bit of bad luck as William Nylander made a nice play with his stick to knock the puck away from Mikheyev, and it trickled right to Matthews in a prime scoring area.  

• With Artyom Levshunov getting scratched, Ethan Del Mastro was back in the NHL lineup for the first time since opening night. He was noticeable early by being active in the offensive zone. He had two shots on goal and four shot attempts, which were second among defensemen after Kaiser’s five. He did have one bad turnover in the neutral zone that forced Connor Murphy to take a tripping penalty, but thankfully, it was killed off. The Maple Leafs didn’t score with Del Mastro on the ice, but they did have 10 scoring chances, two of which were considered high-danger.

• Alex Vlasic’s questionable interference penalty late in the second period was his first minor penalty of the season. That stat surprised me a bit.