Following last Wednesday’s 5–2 loss in Toronto, the Chicago Blackhawks had to wait to just four days to face the Maple Leafs in a rematch at United Center. The Blackhawks, who were coming off a 4–3 road win in overtime against the Ottawa Senators, started Jaxson Stauber in net against a different looking Toronto team than the one they faced last week. Stanley Cup champion forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, acquired from the St. Louis Blues in a three-team trade late Friday night, played their second game for the Leafs following their debut on Saturday night, a 5–1 home win against the Montreal Canadiens.
— The Blackhawks and Leafs traded chances in the first half of the opening frame, including over four minutes without a whistle. The home team broke through first, as a Blackhawks rush up the ice saw Max Domi drop a pass to Patrick Kane in the right circle and he snapped his 12th of the season over the glove of Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov at the 10:44 mark to give Chicago a 1–0 lead.
— The Leafs tied it at 12:52 of the first when their red-hot power play came through again. Morgan Rielly‘s point shot was deflected by John Tavares in front of the net for his 25th of the season. An intense first period would finish with the teams tied at 1–1.
— Despite coming up empty on their 18th straight power play, the Blackhawks broke the tie at even strength. Kane took a feed from Domi in the slot, showed some patience and froze Samsonov before sniping his second of the game and 13th of the season at 7:57 of the second to give Chicago a 2–1 lead.
— At 10:48, Kane completed the hat trick when he banked one in off Samsonov from behind the net. Initially, the call on the ice was no goal, however, after a brief review by the war room in Toronto, the call was overturned and Kane had his 14th of the season to give the Hawks a 3–1 lead.
— The Leafs cut the Hawks lead to 3–2 when Acciari swatted in a rebound from the goal mouth for his 11th of the season and first as a Maple Leaf at the 17:46 mark of the second.
— In the third, the Leafs tied it at 3–3 when Rielly intentionally shot the puck from his own blue line to the left corner, where Mitch Marner, who had a step on Hawks defensemen Jack Johnson, gathered the puck on the carom, skated alone in front of the net, deked Stauber and backhanded the puck in at the 7:38 mark. For Marner, it was his 20th of the season.
— At 11:42, the Hawks regained the lead at 4–3 when Cole Guttman scored his first NHL goal. The University of Denver alum raced in from his own zone on a 2-on-1 and snapped a wrist shot top shelf past the blocker of Samsonov.
— With 1:16 left, Kane capped a four-point night by finding Domi streaking through the neutral zone and into the Toronto end and he fired the puck into the empty net for his 15th to make it 5–3, which was the final tally.
The Hawks return to home ice on Tuesday night when they host the Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. CST.