Blackhawks lose heartbreaker to Bruins, falling 5-4 in OT despite great bounce back effort

Things were not looking pretty for the Chicago Blackhawks heading into their contest with the 9-4-1 Boston Bruins on Saturday, Oct. 31. They went into the game with a dismal 4-9-0 record, having just come off a dispirited 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings two days previously.

The team put together arguably their best effort of the season, dominating and leading the game most of the contest. Unfortunately, they let the Bruins back in at the end and fell 5-4 in overtime in a heartbreaking loss. Let's get to the lineup, game notes and game reaction.

Blackhawks lineup & special teams

Roman Kantserov - Connor Bedard - Ryan Donato

Tyler Bertuzzi - Anton Frondell - Andrew Mangiapane

Oliver Moore - Frank Nazar - Patrick Kane

Cole Smith - Ryan Greene - Jordan Greenway

Alex Vlasic - Ian Cole

Wyatt Kaiser - Artyom Levshunov

Ethan Del Mastro - Sam Rinzel

Arvid Soderblom/ Spencer Knight

Extras: Teuvo Teravainen, Kevin Korchinski, Bowen Byram (upper body)

Note: Artyom Levshunov skated in his 100th NHL game in this contest.

Power play units

PP1: Bertuzzi, Kane-Kantserov-Frondell, Bedard

PP2: Greene, Nazar-Donato-Moore, Bedard 

Note: In the Blackhawks' power plays, Bedard played the point for the entire time, staying on the ice even when the rest of the top unit changed.

Penalty kill contributors

Vlasic, Frondell, Nazar, Cole, Greenway, Greene, Kaiser, Levshunov, Smith, Mangiapane, Del Mastro

Blackhawks game notes

• The Blackhawks got the tone started early. They received a power play when the Bruins put the puck over the glass. Anton Frondell, who was moved up to the top unit in Teuvo Teravainen's absence, found the back of the net off a sweet pass from Patrick Kane. The secondary assist was provided by Connor Bedard, who was actually playing the point, like he did at times towards the end of last season.

• With this helper, Kane reached the milestone of 900 career assists. He’s the 21st player in NHL history to reach this benchmark. Only one other active player currently has 900 or more assists, and that’s Sidney Crosby (1113 assists).

• But the Bruins didn't take long to get one back. David Pastrnak was sprung for a breakaway with an up-the-ice long pass by Pavel Zacha. Blackhawks' backup netminder Arvid Soderblom, playing in his third game of the season, didn't stand much of a chance.

• At the end of the first, the Blackhawks were up 13-6 in shots and 23-13 in shot attempts. They had obviously gotten the message to shoot more after having only 19 total shots on goal in the last game. (4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 29).

• Just a few minutes into the second, the Blackhawks responded with yet another goal by Frondell. He deflected a shot from the outside by Tyler Bertuzzi to take the lead 2-1. It looked like it actually went off Frondell's side and he didn't even realize it. Defenseman Sam Rinzel was credited with the secondary assist.

• Despite the Blackhawks dominating play through most of the second, the Bruins evened things up at the 12:34 mark. Casey Mittelstadt got one past Soderblom through traffic. James Hagen picked up the apple, and the game was tied 2-2.

• Towards the end of the middle frame things got super feisty. Blackhawks' D-man Alex Vlasic & Mittelstadt got into it behind the play and started a fight on middle ice. It led to a full-blown scrum. Then the Bruins' Nikita Zadorov was seen sucker-punching Vlasic while he was being held by the referee. It was a very dirty play by Zadorov, and he ended up getting a 10-minute misconduct. Vlasic and Mittelstadt were given two minutes apiece for roughing.

• The Bruins had a slight advantage through the first portion of the third, casting doubt on whether these young Blackhawks could finish this game off. But at the 9:38 mark of the game Ryan Greene scored on a 3-on-1 after a great save by Soderblom on the other end! It was Greene's second goal of the season, and Andrew Mangiapane picked up his second assist of the season.

• Shortly thereafter, Ryan Donato deftly flipped the puck to Bedard behind the Bruins' defense, leaving him all alone with Bruin's backup goaltender Michael DiPietro. Unfortunately, DiPietro didn't stand a chance. Kantserov was credited with the other apple. 4-2 Blackhawks.

• Alas, just 47 seconds later, the Bruins cut the Blackawks lead to 4-3. Mason Lohrei tapped in a feed from J.J. Peterka to make it a one-goal game. Tanner Jeannot got the secondary assist.

• In the final minute of regulation, the Bruins emptied their net for a 6-on-5 advantage. The Blackhawks were soooo close to closing it out, but Morgan Geekie scored to tie it 4-4 on a wicked shot with just 10.2 seconds left. Assists were by Charlie McAvoy and Peterka. The game required overtime.

• In a heartbreaking ending, the Bruins' Elias Lindholm (assisted by McAvoy) got the final tally to win it for the Bruins, 5-4. The real kicker was that Bedard had a great chance before that to win in overtime, and Frondell had two Grade-A chances before it was all said and done.

• The Blackhawks did just about everything they could to win this one, with a season high 41 shots on goal (to the Bruins 32). They led 73-62 in shot attempts, including 17 high danger chances (to the Bruins 13). It was a feisty effort that they can hopefully continue to build on.

• Frondell was especially noticable in this contest. He registered two goals and came close to earning his first career hat trick several times. He was credited with a whopping nine shots on goal and 13 shots attempts in a healthy 19:15 minutes of ice time.

Quotable Quotes

Bedard said it was probably their best game of the year so far, which is what made the loss such a tough pill to swallow. They were battling, taking hits, being physical. "It sucks," he said. He touted Frondell for being a beast on this day.

Mangiapane also took a positive zone after the game. He said they made some mistakes that they'll have to clean up, and they were happy with their overall play. "That's how we have to play moving forward."

Head coach Jeff Blashill was very complimentary of Frondell's game today. On him moving up to the top unit, he said, "When Frondell gets going on that flank... He seemed more comfortable today than he did earlier in the year. He’s a real weapon there."

The Blackhawks at least got a point, and they improve to 4-9-1 (9 points) on the season. They'll head back to Chicago to host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (Nov. 2) before heading on the road to face the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Panthers and Lightning matchups will be their first back-to-back games of the season.

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