Blackhawks Fall on Maple Leaves; They lost 4-1 – Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

The 8-14-2 Chicago Blackhawks met the 14-7-2 Toronto Maple Leafs in a Monday night game at the Scotiabank Arena on December 2. The Blackhawks were coming off a disappointing 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets the night before. at the United Center, while the Maple Leafs beat 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 winning streak to two games in a row and six of the last seven. The Blackhawks have now lost their last three contests. Here's a snippet from it.

Matthews Breaks into the First Period

The Blackhawks made changes to the top six players in this game. Head coach Luke Richardson moved Tyler Bertuzzi (formerly of the Maple Leafs) to the top line alongside Taylor Hall and Connor Bedard. Philipp Kurashev was then moved to the second line, focusing on Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen.

The game moved at a good pace from the bat, with both teams exchanging chances. Towards the end of the frame, Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs finally broke through. The Blackhawks were in transition, and a well-timed pass from William Nylander put Matthews behind the defense for an easy breakaway goal. It was the sixth of the season. The contest was the second game back after being sidelined for nine games due to an upper back injury.

PRIME PAPI!! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/3SIgpqDxxW

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 3, 2024

The Maple Leafs benefited from the Blackhawks turnover, but the Hawks should know more about one of the best players on the ice. Matthews should not have been so open.

Both teams ended up getting nine shots on goal for the first time, including a shot that was placed by the Blackhawks goalkeeper, Arvid Soderblom!

Credit to John Wiedeman for noting that goalkeeper Arvid Söderblom was credited with a first-half goal against Toronto.

Here's a 186-foot “picture” behind the Chicago net. Oh well! #Black people pic.twitter.com/hHFqKJMqyT

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@Croumeliotis) December 3, 2024

You certainly don't see that often!

The line changes the Blackhawks made seemed to pay off. Bertuzzi, in particular, dug up pucks and got to the front of the net, where he did his best work. In fact, he took Bedard's shot up the middle and had trouble getting back to the bench. But he was back on the next turnover, and the Blackhawks had nothing to show for their efforts at the end of the first.

Second Draft Sees Maple Leafs Double Their Lead

The Blackhawks were pushing hard in this frame to tie things up, but it was a bad game that put the Maple Leafs 2-0. John Tavares scored his 11th goal about halfway through the frame. He took a shot that seemed to deflect off the stick of Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic. It may have even beaten defenseman Connor Murphy before hitting an unsuspecting Soderblom. At least, Murphy checked his goal unconsciously. The Leafs manager called it a doink twice.

Was that a double doink? 👀 pic.twitter.com/Jl9u5KV3OX

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 3, 2024

The Hawks had a good chance in every area in the second frame, except at the goal door. Toronto netminder Anthony Stolarz stood on his head to stop the Blackhawks from scoring.

Second half: Maple Leafs 2, Blackhawks 0

The Hawks are playing really well! But getting a goal tonight.

Shot attempts: 45-26 CHI
Shots on goal: 20-16 CHI
Scoring Odds: 25-19 CHI (20-5 in 2nd)

– Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 3, 2024

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs stuck to their game, playing patiently and waiting for their chances in the third.

Blackhawks Fight Back in Third Period; It falls short

The fourth line reappeared in Chicago in the third quarter. Lukas Reichel scored his third goal of the season, assisted by Pat Maroon and TJ Brodie (another former Maple Leaf) to cut the score in half. The line of Reichel, Maroon and Craig Smith contributed greatly this season despite their limited playing time.

Net war 💪 pic.twitter.com/0G73znGPSb

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 3, 2024

Alas, Fraser Minten scored his second of the season 20 seconds later to make it 3-1, just like that. The Blackhawks have been guilty this season of conceding goals shortly after scoring, and this was another case of taking the foot off the gas.

When the Hawks fought until the end, they could not get past the best player and the red goalkeeper. Matthew Knies scored an empty netter (his 10th goal of the season) at the 18:15 mark of the third period to put the game away, 4-1.

Final Thoughts on the Blackhawks and Maple Leafs

-The Maple Leafs played a solid effort, with Philippe Myers registering four shots on goal, while Matthews, Nylander, Nicholas Robertson and Tavares all had three shots on goal. Toronto was also credited with 35 hits and 16 blocked shots (to the Blackhawks' 22 hits and six blocked shots), and won 63% of its faceoffs.

-Ilya Mikheyev and Smith led the Blackhawks in shots, each with four. Bedard did not even register a single goal on goal in this game. The Blackhawks finished the night with 28 shots to the Maple Leafs' 22 shots.

-Neither team was able to capitalize on this game. The Blackhawks had four power play opportunities and the Maple Leafs had two. Just one goal for the Blackhawks could have made this game the difference.

Related – Blackhawks Lukas Reichel Finally Gets His Way

The Maple Leafs (now 15-7-2) welcome the Nashville Predators to the fold on Wednesday (Dec. 4), while the Blackhawks (now 8-15-2) will head home to host Boston Bruins that night. This is a story of two teams going in very different directions right now.