Wild finish goes against Chicago Blackhawks
When Patrick Kane's second game-tying goal in 55 seconds whizzed into the net with just 29 ticks left in regulation Sunday night, the decibel level at the United Center reached a level likely not heard since June 15, 2015.
And Kane wanted even more. So an ecstatic - and somewhat peeved - Kane raised his left glove to his ear, mimicking Auston Matthews' audacious move moments earlier.
Unfortunately for the superstar winger, no hero emerged in overtime and the Blackhawks dropped their home opener 7-6 when Toronto's Morgan Rielly beat Cam Ward with a 40-foot blast.
"It was a pretty crazy game," said coach Joel Quenneville.
No kidding.
The Hawks appeared doomed when John Tavares notched a hat trick with 10:31 remaining to give Toronto a 5-4 lead.
But with Ward on the bench for an extra attacker, Kane took the puck to the left of Maple Leafs goalie Garret Sparks. After surveying the scene for a few seconds, Kane rifled a shot that beat Sparks to the short side to make it 5-5.
Bedlam ensued. But not for long.
Toronto reclaimed the lead just 22 seconds later when Matthews notched his fifth goal of the young season. He proceeded to mock the UC crowd with his glove-to-the-ear routine.
The nearly 22,000 on hand could hardly believe their eyes, but on the next shift, Kane unloaded an absolute rocket that once again tied things up.
That's when Kane decided to give Matthews some of his own medicine.
"I wasn't really happy when he did it, so it was nice to get a chance to score and kind of give it back to him," Kane said. "Wish we could have got another one in overtime."
Indeed, Rielly's goal ruined the Hawks' homecoming, but they certainly aren't complaining about a 2-0-1 start in which they tied each game with a third-period goal or two.
"We've shown a lot of resiliency in all the games, so that's definitely a positive," said Duncan Keith, who had 3 assists. "Obviously there's lots of things we need to work on with our 'D' zone and a few other things. But as far as competing and not giving up and being hard on pucks, there's been a lot of good things."
Said Kane: "Getting 5 out of 6 (points) is probably a win for us. Doesn't feel that great right now because we lost tonight. But if we get 5 out of 6 every three games, we'd be pretty happy with that."
The Hawks' other goals came from Jonathan Toews (his fifth), Alex DeBrincat, John Hayden and Brandon Manning.
Matthews had a 4-point night for Toronto (2G, 2A), and Henri Jokiharju had 3 assists for the Hawks.
Coach Joel Quenneville elected to go with Ward for a second straight night, and the 34-year-old made just 27 of 34 saves. His save percentage on the season is .843.
"He had the net and we wanted to keep him rolling, so he got the opportunity," Quenneville said. "But he saw a lot of pucks and a lot of quality chances. It wasn't the easiest decision. "(We thought) it would be tough to take it away from him. He's got the net, let's keep him going.
"But at the end of the night, he battled."
As did the Hawks, who are looking like a team that might just make some serious noise this season.