Oh Chicago Blackhawks resolved in the second period and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 this Monday (16), away, at Scotiabank Arena. Tyler Johnson continued his good start and scored his third goal of the season.

For the Blackhawks, Arvid Soderblom had a very safe game, closing the goal in the final three minutes when the Maple Leafs found themselves in an empty net. There were 36 saves and a 97.3% success rate for their first win of the year. Besides Johnson, MacKenzie Entwistle, Corey Perry and Taylor Raddysh scored Chicago’s goals. Also note Andreas Athanasiou, who provided two assists in the duel.

Joseph Woll even had a good first half with good defenses staying safe under the posts. But then the door opened, conceding three second-period goals that cemented Chicago’s victory. He finished with 25 saves and a 90% success rate. The Canadian team’s only goal came from veteran John Tavares.

THE GAME

The first dangerous chance of the match came with a minute left on Taylor Raddysh’s rebound attempt. The Blackhawks winger placed the puck in the right corner, but Woll closed the angle well with the paddle.

Chicago circled Woll’s goal again midway through the first period. In the quick connection, Taylor Hall played behind in the slot for the oncoming Ryan Donato, but Woll made good progress in front of the striker.

After a few dangerous chances from the visitors, Toronto finally managed to threaten Soderblom’s goal with a frontal slapshot from Nylander. The Blackhawks continued to pile on the pressure and nearly took the score thanks to some great individual play from freshman Connor Bedard.

The center dominated the puck in the defensive zone, came out fast, cut past John Klingberg and finished with a backhand, but Woll made another good save for the Leafs. The most important moment of this period was the final turn of the clock.

Noah Gregor tracking down Zaitsev, who controlled the puck in the defensive zone, hit the Blackhawks player hard, who immediately took the hit. During the faceoff after the game, Connor Murphy took care of his teammate’s pain and fought with the Leafs number 18.

What was lacking in pucks in the net in the first period was not the case at the start of the second period. Chicago opened the scoring with MacKenzie Entwistle. The Michigan team launched a counterattack with Boris Katchouk, who hit and Woll made the save. But the winger collected the rebound and hit the slot for Entwistle to arrive and score the goal, 1-0.

Chicago couldn’t even celebrate that goal too much, because shortly after, the Maple Leafs equalized with veteran John Tavares. Mark Giordano threw the puck in the neutral zone. Nylander dominated, took two to dance and made the arrival of jersey 91 hit him hard with a slap shot, 1-on-1.

The Blackhawks almost regained the lead on the power play with what could be Benard’s first goal as a professional. However, the young sensation’s shot from the slot stopped in Woll’s firm defense. As the clock ticked down to about five minutes, the visitors scored again through Corey Perry.

The veteran received a through ball from Alex Vlasic, coming face to face with the goalkeeper. Number 94 waited for the gap and sent it under the legs of the Toronto goalkeeper, scoring his first goal for the new team, 2-1.

The visitors put two goals in front in the final minutes on the power play with Tyler Johnson. However, all the play belonged to Andreas Athanasiou, who dribbled past half of Toronto’s defense and played for the center to score his third goal of the season, shooting past the team’s top scorer in the competition, 3- 1.

Toronto almost scored early in the final period with their top scorer, Auston Matthews, but the loss fell to Soderblom’s strong defense. The home team continued to pressure and had another good chance with Matthews shorthanded, but the puck exploded off the crossbar.

The Maple Leafs had yet another good chance on the power play with Tyler Bertuzzi, but the shot went into the corner of Soderblom’s goal. With two goals behind, with three minutes remaining, Toronto gave nothing into the empty net. The Canadian team had three accidents in a row.

First, Matthews missed a big opportunity during tip-in. Then it was Nylander and Klingberg, but Arvid Soderblom stood up in the decisive moment to save the Blackhawks. As the famous sports saying goes, he who doesn’t make it gets it, on Chicago’s first chance to eliminate the problem, Taylor Hall won the puck in the offensive zone and sent it into an empty net , 4-1.

However, the referee ended up disallowing the goal due to offside. So, the Maple Leafs continued the stifling volume in search of two lightning goals and with 6.2, Nylander on the rebound sent the shot high into Woll’s goal, 3 to 2. But just like the previous play, the goal of the home team was also canceled. by offside.

Toronto still had a power play opportunity in the final seconds, but the team lost control of the puck, Taylor Raddysh took control of it and sent it into the empty net to end the game. Final score, 4-1 Chicago Blackhawks

Upcoming games

Both teams will benefit from two days of rest and will return to the ice next Thursday (19). The Chicago Blackhawks travel to Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche in the Central Division showdown. While the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to South Florida to face the Florida Panthers.

Photo: Instagram/Chicago Blackhawks Reproduction