3 goal second period leads Blackhawks past Maple Leafs

*Photo from the Chicago Tribune*

   This has been a scrappy bunch to start the year. MacKenzie Entwistle scored, Andreas Athanasiou had two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-1 victory on Monday night in Toronto.

   The Blackhawks improved to an even 2-2-0 on the season and it served as the first game that first round pick and phenom Connor Bedard didn't record a point in. What proved to be the difference for the Blackhawks was the 3 goal second period that helped them pull away.

   Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said that "I thought it was a complete game tonight, 60 minutes. That’s what we challenged the guys for, that’s what we needed against a team like that. It was great, a great effort."

   After a scoreless first period, Entwistle started the scoring in the second for the Blackhawks. He scored his first goal of the season 2:59 into the frame to make it 1-0. John Tavares then scored 5:14 into the period for the Maple Leafs to tie the game 1-1. Corey Perry scored at the 14:46 mark of the second to make it 2-1 Blackhawks.

   With 2:55 left in the second period, Tyler Johnson picked up a goal for the Blackhawks, scoring on the power play to make it 3-1, assisted by Athanasiou and Kevin Korchinski. It stayed that way until deep into the 3rd period. With 6 seconds left in the game and the net empty, Taylor Raddysh scored to make it 4-1 Chicago.

   Getting the start in net for the Blackhawks was Arvid Soderblom, who improved to 1-1-0 with his first win of the season. Soderblom stopped all but one of the 35 shots he faced, which was good for a .971 save percentage.

   Richardson said of Soderblom's performance that "Soderblom tonight was remarkable, especially at the end of the game. That’s a dangerous team down low, big bodies, but he’s a big body and he’s very solid on the posts. He came up really big for us."

   Making his season debut in goal for the Maple Leafs was Joseph Woll, who couldn't hold off the Blackhawks. Woll turned aside 27 out of the 30 shots on goal he saw from the Blackhawks, posting an even .900 save percentage.

   Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that "The turnover stuff early on, the carelessness with the puck, it’s all our best players. Really, really careless. So, that didn’t give us a chance to take a hold of the game, which you want to do be able to do on home ice. We weren’t able to take charge of the game, and then you let the opponent hang around. We’ve seen this movie before."

   Both teams have their next games on Thursday night on the road. Petr Mrazek is expected to start for the Blackhawks against the Colorado Avalanche, while Ilya Samsonov is the projected Toronto starter as they face the Florida Panthers.