The 8-14-2 Chicago Blackhawks met the 14-7-2 Toronto Maple Leafs for a Monday night matchup at Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 2. The Blackhawks were coming off a disappointing 6-3 loss the night before to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center, while the Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 last Saturday night (Nov. 30).
The stronger team prevailed, as the Leafs won the game 4-1, extending their win streak to two games in a row and six of their last seven. The Blackhawks have now lost their last three contests. Here are the highlights from this one.
Matthews Breaks Through in the First Period
The Blackhawks made a bit of a tweak to their top-six forwards for this game. Head coach Luke Richardson moved Tyler Bertuzzi (who formerly played for the Maple Leafs) to the top line alongside Taylor Hall and Connor Bedard. Philipp Kurashev was then moved to the second line, centering Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen.
The game got off to a decent pace right off the bat, with both teams exchanging chances. Late in the frame, Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews finally broke through. The Blackhawks were in the middle of a change, and a well-timed pass by William Nylander put Matthews behind the defense for an easy breakaway goal. It was his sixth of the season. This contest was the second game back after being out of the lineup for nine games to with an upper body injury.
PRIME PAPI!! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/3SIgpqDxxW
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 3, 2024
The Maple Leafs took advantage of the Blackhawks change, but the Hawks have to be more aware of one of the best players on the ice. Matthews shouldn’t have been that wide open.
Both teams ended up with nine shots on goal in the first, including a shot on goal from the Blackhawks goaltender, Arvid Soderblom!
Credit to John Wiedeman for noticing that goaltender Arvid Söderblom was credited with a shot on goal in the first period vs. Toronto.
Here’s the 186-foot “shot” from behind Chicago’s net. Alrighty then! #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hHFqKJMqyT
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 3, 2024
You certainly don’t see that very often!
The line changes the Blackhawks made seemed to pay off. Bertuzzi, especially, was digging for pucks & getting to the front of the net, where he does his best work. As a matter of fact, he took a Bedard shot to the midsection and had some trouble getting back to the bench. But he was back out the next shift,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…