Five goals against in just over seven minutes of gameplay reverses strong start for Chicago
For the first 30 or so minutes of Sunday's game, the Blackhawks looked like they might be able to pull off an upset win over one of the formerly best.
He controlled much of the offense in the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning, robbed on several occasions by Andrei Vasilevsky's stellar netminding, which could have been a two- or three-goal, going 1-0 up after only 20 minutes. Gone. Chief.
Even as Tampa got on board with a broken game in the second slot, Patrick Kane responded five minutes later to put Chicago back in front.
He had a prime opportunity to double the lead on the power play of the second period, only making three shot attempts in the opening 20 seconds of the advantage, but an Alex Debrincat minor defended the crowd in the second half of the power play. Denied and turned to Tampa's speed to the other side. Way. A few seconds after the upcoming Lightning Power Play ended, Victor Heidman tied the game again. And 90 seconds later, Cal Foote fronted Tampa Bay for the rest of the way.
"The turning point of the game," Kane said. "Vasilevsky made some unrealistic saves and he comes back at the end of his power play and scores ... he gets one before the end of second and now suddenly you feel like you're going with the lead in third and You're chasing the game. It got away from us there very quickly."
Early is an understatement. Tampa Bay took the lead three times in the span of 32 seconds to take a 6-2 lead in the opening two minutes of the third, and that was effectively. All told, five Tampa goals came in just 7:06 of game play.
"The game could easily have gone the other way," said interim head coach Derek King. "Obviously that didn't happen, but we'll watch the video and we'll probably realize that we didn't play as bad as we thought we gave them a little too much at certain times and they took advantage of it ... you give them those opportunities And they're going to finish. And that's what they did."
"I think it started snowballing," Riley Stillman said. "We have to do a better job once the parking stuff is over. If one goes in, then two go in, you have to find a way to regroup and come back and do your best to get it." Will be next for the team. I think we have to do something better to move forward."
Three headed monster
Kane, Alex Debrinkt and Dylan Strom all extended their individual point streaks in three straight games with one goal and one assist each on Sunday.
The trio has been the heartthrob of the Blackhawks offense in recent weeks, so much so that after scoring a few goals late, King put the trio together to finish the game. This served to net the team's third goal of the night as Debrincat and Kane each attempted to tip home a Strom shot from far away, a puck Debrincat eventually connected.
"I thought the line played well," said King. "Kanner was hot. Stromer continues to produce. I thought Kat was a lot better when I put her on that line."
Kane has 11 points (6G, 5A) in his last six games, including his fourth multi-point effort in that stretch in a loss. Strom has 18 points in the last 22 innings.
DeBrincat now has three straight goals, bringing his season total to 32 and is on pace to break his career-best 41-goal mark from his rookie year. If his current form continues, he could also be in talks to hit 50 before the end of the season.
"He's just such a natural goal scorer," Stillman surprised Debrincat. "It's like his wheelhouse is three feet wide. He hits the net with everything. He can hit it whether you pass it at two miles an hour or a hundred miles an hour, he can still hit it I think he is a special goal scorer in this league."