*Photo from the Chicago Sun Times*
Through all the rumors, we saw the return of vintage Patrick Kane. Max Domi had a goal and 3 assists, Kane recorded a hat trick, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 5-3 victory on Sunday night in Chicago.
After a 3 game losing streak, the Blackhawks have now won two games in a row and are now 18-32-5 on the season. Kane and Domi each had 4 point games, with Kane also adding an assist in addition to his hat trick. Jason Dickinson, Connor Murphy, and Cole Guttman were the other point scorers.
Kane said of his hat trick that he "Just got some chances tonight, obviously. Going back to the last couple games, playing with Max Domi and Philipp Kurashev, been getting some looks, and nice to capitalize on them. Always nice to have a game like that at home."
It was Kane who got the scoring started, giving the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead 10:44 into the game on his 12th goal of the season, with Domi getting the lone assist. At the 12:52 mark of the first period, John Tavares scored a power play goal, tying things up for the Maple Leafs with assists from Morgan Rielly and William Nylander.
Kane struck again in the second period, scoring 7:57 into the middle frame to put Chicago ahead 2-1 with Dickinson and Domi assisting. Kane then capped off the hat trick at the 10:49 mark of the second, with assists from Domi and Murphy. New acquisition Noel Acciari scored for the Maple Leafs to cut the deficit to 3-2 with one period left.
Mitch Marner scored his 20th goal of the season 7:38 into the 3rd period, tying the game at a 3-3 score. Guttman then scored the eventual game winner, his first NHL goal to put the Blackhawks ahead 4-3 unassisted. Domi then provided the insurance goal on an empty net with 1:16 left in regulation to seal the win.
Chicago head coach Luke Richardson said of the win that "We never backed down. Anytime they got a goal, we went right back at them. We had good, fast shifts the other way, and that's a good responding point for our team right now. We have different guys in the lineup, and they've been in and out for two or three games together, and they're starting to jell a little bit and get comfortable."
Rookie Jaxson Stauber got the start for the Blackhawks, getting another win to continue his strong play since being called up. Stauber made 32 saves on 35 shots, good for a .914 save percentage as his record improved to 4-1-0 in 5 starts.
Starting opposite Stauber was Toronto's Ilya Samsonov, who took the loss to drop to 19-7-2 in 28 games this season. Samsonov stopped 23 out of the 27 Blackhawks shots that reached him, recording a .852 save percentage.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that "I just thought we were clearly a very tired group right from the start and made tired mistakes. When you're tired, you've got to be really smart and structured and all of that. Some of the clean looks we gave up tonight are the result of not being smart. Those kind of mistakes you look at, but in terms of the energy and the execution, as a group, we knew this was going to be a tough one today."
Both teams resume play on Tuesday night with inter-conference showdowns. The Blackhawks play host to the Vegas Golden Knights, with Petr Mrazek the projected starter. The Maple Leafs travel to face the Buffalo Sabres, with Samsonov expected to start.
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