Jonathan Toews tallied three points and Robin Lehner made 44 saves, but it wasn’t enough for the Blackhawks to pick up their third consecutive victory.
After winning back-to-back games in extra time, the Chicago Blackhawks failed to make it three in a row on Sunday night by losing to the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 in a shootout. The Hawks jumped out to a commanding 3-1 lead in the first period but fell flat for the majority of the final 40 minutes of regulation.
“Step back I thought from the last two games, for sure,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “Especially the second and third, I thought we had a tough time making plays, exiting the zone, we’re not able to establish zone time and momentum, and they were. Robin was excellent to get us the point.”
RECAP
The Blackhawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 53 seconds into the game as Jonathan Toews scored off a beautiful backhand pass from Calvin de Haan. For Toews, it was his sixth goal of the season and second in the last three games.
Alex DeBrincat doubled the Blackhawks lead with his fifth powerplay goal of the season at 8:40 of the first period. ‘The Cat’ has now scored in three straight games after failing to find the back of the net in the previous 12 contests. With the goal, DeBrincat became the eighth player in Blackhawks history to record 150 points prior to his 22nd birthday.
The first half of the opening frame was controlled by the Blackhawks, but the ice began to tilt in the Coyotes favor once Chicago native Christian Fischer scored in tight to make it 2-1. Toews turned the puck over at his own blueline to former Blackhawk Nick Schmaltz, who picked up the secondary assist on the goal.
With just over two minutes remaining in the period, the Blackhawks regained their two-goal lead as Dominik Kubalik redirected a Connor Murphy shot to make it 3-1. Toews picked up his third point in the first twenty minutes with a faceoff win to generate the opportunity. The Blackhawks’ captain hadn’t had three points in any of his 29 games coming into Sunday.
2ND PERIOD
After the Blackhawks took a 3-1 lead, momentum shifted sides as Arizona began to take control of the game in the second period. That was largely in part to the Blackhawks’ inability to stay out of the penalty box. The Hawks took three penalties in the period, with the Coyotes cashing in on back-to-back powerplays in a 2:21 span.
Connor Garland found a soft spot in the Blackhawks zone to make it 3-2, then Carl Soderberg’s shot ricocheted off Slater Koekkoek’s stick and past Lehner to tie the game at 3. Soderberg’s goal was a result of a Dennis Gilbert penalty for enforcing a fight with Jason Demers. Demers crunched DeBrincat into the boards and Gilbert immediately made a run at the Coyotes’ defenseman.
3RD PERIOD
The Coyotes continued to control the pace in the third period as they outshot the Blackhawks 12-3 through the first 10 minutes. Lehner made big save after big save to keep the game tied in an attempt to salvage a point for the Hawks.
Neither team found the back of the net in the period, but the shots on goal were 17-5 Arizona. It felt like the Blackhawks were on their heels for the entire twenty minutes and contempt with the game heading to overtime. Lehner stopped all 17 shots in the period, including a miraculous acrobatic stop on Clayton Keller.
OT + SHOOTOUT
Each team killed off a penalty in overtime as Lehner and Coyotes’ goaltender Darcy Kuemper both made some terrific saves to force the game to a shootout.
Schmaltz and Garland scored in the first two rounds of the shootout for Arizona. Kuemper allowed a goal to Kane in the second round, but he stopped rookie Kirby Dach in the top of the third to seal the victory.
After getting off to such a strong start, it was disappointing to see the Blackhawks take a step back in the second half of the game. With their next three contests all coming on the road against teams currently in a playoff position, it would have been nice to come away with the extra point at home. With the loss, the Blackhawks are now 12-12-6 on the season and four points out of a playoff spot.
UP NEXT
The Blackhawks are back in action on Tuesday night in Las Vegas to take on the 15-12-5 Golden Knights. The last time these two teams met on Nov. 13, the Blackhawks overcame a 2-0 deficit on the road to win the game 5-3. Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome each recorded three points and Kirby Dach wound up with his first career game-winning goal.
Puck drop is slated for 9:00 p.m. PST and the game is scheduled to be on ESPN+, ATTSN-RM, and NBCSCH.
For more Blackhawks news and updates, follow the author (@JackBushman2) on Twitter. Make sure to check out the author’s podcast, Talkin’ Hawkey, which can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Twitter (@TalkinHawkey).
