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RECAP: Dickinson powers Blackhawks to 4–3 overtime win over Maple Leafs

  
RECAP: Dickinson powers Blackhawks to 4–3 overtime win over Maple Leafs
Jason Dickinson tallied the first hat trick of his career to fuel the Chicago Blackhawks' 4–3 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday afternoon. (Photo courtesy of Sportsnet)

The Chicago Blackhawks returned home after getting demolished by the Columbus Blue Jackets 7–3 on Wednesday. In addition to losing four games in a row, the Blackhawks come into the game shorthanded, as the team announced on Thursday that Taylor Hall will require knee surgery and be out for the rest of the season. In addition to Hall being out, Corey Perry is away from the team for reasons unknown. To compensate for the player losses, the team recalled Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman from Rockford.

Chicago rolled out the following lineup:

First period

In a fast-moving first period, Kevin Korchinski and Arvid Soderblom made two egregious mistakes in their own zone, but thankfully neither led to a Leafs goal. The Leafs did eventually break through with a goal from Nicholas Robertson. Maxi Domi fed a pass that went through five red sweater to Robertson, who buried the shot.

The Leafs’ lead did not last long, as Jason Dickinson scored the equalizer at 12 minutes remaining in the period.

After allowing the early goal, Soderblom settled in to withstand the rest of the Toronto barrage in the period. The period ended with the score tied at 1–1 despite the Hawks being outshot 15–6.

Second period

The second period started with the Blackhawks and Leafs playing 4-on-4 hockey, The Leafs broke the tie with a goal from Calle Jarnkrok. Jarnkrok got a cross-ice pass from TJ Brodie that led to the tap-in.

Less than three minutes later, the Leafs padded their lead. Ryan Reaves tapped in a backdoor shot to give the Leafs a 3–1 lead. After weathering another storm from the Leafs, the Hawks got their second goal of the game from Dickinson.

After the second Dickinson goal, the Hawks got some great shifts from the Connor Bedard line and a shift lead by Alex Vlasic. The Hawks controlled the end of the period, keeping the score at 3–2 Leafs after 40 minutes.

Third period

In the third period, the Dickinson line got the puck deep into the Toronto line. Nick Foligno forced a turnover, which squibbed out to Dickinson, who buried the puck for his first career hat trick.

With 10 minutes left in the period, it was the Ryan Donato, Boris Katchouk and Reese Johnson line drawing penalties from Reaves and William Lagesson.

After the skirmish, there were two Hawks and two Leafs in the box but no power play. It started getting really chippy afterwards. Regulation ended with the score tied at 3–3.

Overtime

This overtime period was chaos, with quality chances on both sides—the best being William Nylander hitting the post and cross bar on a breakaway. Soderblom made some great saves in overtime to keep the Hawks in this game. After the Soderblom save, the Hawks controlled the puck and got the game-winner from Korchinski after the puck bounced off the end glass and the top of the net following a Bedard slot shot.

The victory would give the Hawks a season sweep against Toronto after beating the Leafs in Toronto during Chicago’s season-opening road trip.

Analysis

The Hawks’ young defensemen were outmatched by the high-flying Leafs early in the game. In addition to the defense being outmatched, Soderblom did not trust the defense to cover up for him, leading him to overcompensate for their errors. His overcompensation led to easy tap-in goals for the Leafs early. He did settle in and make great save after great save to give the Hawks the victory.

The Hawks’ best line of the game was the third line with Anderson, Dickinson and Nick Foligno. They generated three goals and several good shifts. The line brought energy and scoring, which caused the rest of the team to work hard. The Hawks outworked the Leafs in this game to overcome the two-goal deficit and tie in the third period. Dickinson also became the first Ontario-born player to have a hat trick against the Leafs since Perry did it in 2015.

Vlasic and Isaak Phillips turned in solid games from the blue line and made some plays in the offensive zone. This game was the mark of a Luke Richardson-led team; the team worked hard and got the win.

The Blackhawks were also able to hold Nylander pointless in the contest, snapping Nylander’s 17-game point streak to open the season.

The Hawks’ next game is Sunday against the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop is at 1 p.m. CST.

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