Lukas Reichel Benched in Blackhawks Loss to Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs picked up their first regulation win at the United Center since Feb. 12, 2003, by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Sunday night. For the most part, the Blackhawks contained the Toronto superstars, but the bottom half of their roster did the damage.

The Blackhawks had some rust in the first period of Saturday’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. That rust was shaken off for the opening frame on Sunday. The Blackhawks had six of the first seven shots of the night. After earning plenty of offensive zone time thanks to an effective forecheck, the home team was rewarded with a late-period power play. Ryan Donato’s shot from the slot hit Tyler Bertuzzi in front, and Teuvo Teravainen located the loose puck and roofed it under the crossbar for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Teravainen’s 500^th career point.

The start to the second period was the exact opposite, as the Maple Leafs took control early. Nick Robertson tied the game seven minutes into the frame with a power-play goal off a nice feed from former Blackhawk Max Domi. Less than three minutes later, another former Blackhawk, Jake McCabe, gave Toronto a 2-1 lead with a goal from the point off a clean faceoff win by Auston Matthews.

The final 15 seconds of the middle frame saw each team score a goal. Robertson scored his second of the night off another nice feed from Domi. The Blackhawks scored eight seconds later off the ensuing faceoff.

Chris Tanev was given credit for a goal midway through the third period when the rebound from his shot hit the skate of T.J. Brodie and got in behind Arvid Soderblom. Pontus Holmberg iced the game with a late empty-net goal that was unsuccessfully challenged for being offside.  

“In the second, I thought we were fine until they scored on the power play,” interim head coach Anders Sorensen said. “We lost momentum for a couple of shifts. If you at the second period shot-wise, it was great, but the actual ups and downs weren’t that bad.”

Frank Nazar Elevating His Teammates

Frank Nazar was the best player on the ice for the second straight night, and Bertuzzi and Kurashev are benefitting from playing on his wings. The young center fully displayed his skills with the Blackhawks’ second goal. He won the faceoff, and after Bertuzzi made a nice play along the wall, he got off a fantastic pass to Kurashev for the goal.