After a poor showing against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night, the Chicago Blackhawks returned home to face the Toronto Maples Leafs on Sunday night. The Leafs were coming into town off a 6–3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Before the game, the Blackhawks honored organist Frank Pellico for his 30 years of service to the organization. Pellico was retiring after the contest. He will be missed by Blackhawks fans.
The soundtrack to countless memories, thank you Frank! 🎹❤️ pic.twitter.com/ngl3m35PbB
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 24, 2025
The only changes to the Hawks lineup were Arvid Soderblom in net and Nolan Allan in for Ethan Del Mastro.
First period
Chicago came out fired up after the two national anthems. The Hawks were all over Toronto early. Chris Tanev of the Leafs was called for a cross-check to the back of Landon Slaggert. On the ensuing power play, Teuvo Tervainen potted his 13th goal of the season.
With this goal, Teuvo Teräväinen’s point total stands at 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣! pic.twitter.com/rjtECthIF5
— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) February 24, 2025
The goal was Teravainen’s 500th career point. Chicago finished the first period up 1–0.
Second period
In the second period, the Leafs found their legs. Toronto dominated the period, spending the majority of the period in the Hawks’ defensive zone. Nicholas Robertson scored his ninth goal of the season on a Leafs power play. Former Blackhawks defenseman Jake McCabe added a point-shot goal of his own. Robertson scored again very late in the second period to extend the Toronto lead to 3–1.
Philipp Kurashev answered the Robertson goal with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period. The Kurashev goal was set up by the filthy mitts of Frank Nazar. Nazar dangled his way past Max Domi to set up the goal.
Kurashev makes it a one goal game👏 pic.twitter.com/u2pxQAmc8q
— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) February 24, 2025
Third period
Tanev fired a shot from the point that ricocheted off TJ Brodie for the Leafs’ fourth goal. Pontus Holmberg netted an empty-netter to seal the victory for Toronto. The Hawks lost 5–2.
Analysis
The trio of Brodie, Seth Jones and Alec Martinez was really bad in this one. Jones, who wants out of Chicago, is continuing to lower his trade value with his poor play. Martinez turned in another stinker on the blue line. Plus/minus is not a great stat, but these three defensemen were a -5 on the game. The expectation should be that all three of these defenseman are not with the Blackhawks next season.
Lukas Reichel was benched after the first period and half of hockey. Head Coach Anders Sorensen said “he didn’t like his game.”
Soderblom played a good game despite his numbers. His play was not enough to overcome the poor play of his defense. Nazar put together another strong performance with an assist and drove the puck to the net.
Could the 4 Nations Face-off break have hurt Connor Bedard? Before the break, he had points in 20 of 21 games. There could be a change in linemates in the future. After the break, he has gone scoreless in two games. With 24 games remaining, the Hawks will be looking to trade Ryan Donato and sort out the roster for next season.
The Hawks will take on the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CST.