Overtime win caps Dickinson hat trick, snaps Blackhawks' losing streak at 5 games
The Blackhawks remained mum on the Corey Perry situation Friday, with coach Luke Richardson saying the team wants to keep things "in the organization."
Perry missed a second straight game, this one a 4-3 overtime victory over Toronto at the United Center.
Kevin Korchinski scored the winner with 29.8 seconds remaining, knocking in a loose puck that was just a couple of feet from the goal mouth. Jason Dickinson scored the Hawks' other 3 goals for his first pro hat trick.
The win snapped a five-game skid for the Hawks (6-12-0).
As for Perry, he was also not in uniform for a 7-3 loss to Columbus on Wednesday and did not practice at Fifth Third Arena on Thursday.
"Hopefully we'll be able to give updates soon, but we can't give a timeline on that," Richardson said before the game.
Asked afterward if the players were still in the dark, Richardson said: "Same as me. We just don't know right now and that's all I'm able to (say)."
General manager Kyle Davidson acquired Perry from Tampa Bay during the off-season then quickly inked him to a one-year, $4 million contract. The 38-year-old veteran has had a solid campaign, with 4 goals and 5 assists in 16 games while averaging more than 14.5 minutes of ice time.
Perry practiced Tuesday, even greeting more than a dozen kids and signing autographs.
Multiple reporters asked for Davidson to speak, but the second-year GM chose to remain quiet. A team spokesman said Davidson may talk Saturday.
Whatever the issue is, Davidson should not wait any longer to address it. The GM should be front and center during situations like this and not leave his coach to twist in the wind.
With Perry out indefinitely, Taylor Hall out for the season with an ACL tear, and Andreas Athanasiou on injured reserve, the Hawks desperately need other forwards to step up.
Dickinson got that message, scoring at 8:03 of the first period to tie the game 1-1, at 12:27 of the second to cut Toronto's lead to 3-2, and at 15 seconds of the third period to make it 3-3. Dickinson's only other multi-goal game in the regular season came in October 2018.
His last hat trick came in juniors while playing for Guelph.
"I wouldn't be able to tell you what game," Dickinson said. "It was a matinee game as well."
Wait. So is another hat trick coming against St. Louis on Sunday? Puck drop for that game is also 1 p.m.
"I didn't promise that," Dickinson said with a smile. "But matinee seems to be my (time of) day."
Things got really interesting midway through the third period, with all 10 skaters scuffling in five separate fracases. Only four players went to the penalty box with two-minute roughing penalties, however: The Hawks' Seth Jones and Reese Johnson, and the Maples Leafs' Ryan Reaves and William Lagesson.
"Haven't seen that in a while," Richardson said of the five fights at once. "But the crowd seemed to like it.
"You know what, I thought our guys responded well. (Ryan) Reaves poking at Seth, smart play by them. But then a real smart play by (Nick) Foligno going and pushing at (Auston) Matthews right after. If you're going to do it to us, we're going to do it to you."
Goalie Arvid Soderblom made 34 saves and improved to 2-6-0 on the season.
While the victory was nice for the Hawks, there's still a lot to sort out in the coming days - both on and off the ice.
"They earned everything they got tonight in that dressing room," Richardson said. "Proud of them, but it's not done.
"It's just one game, but at least it's a positive step we set after the second period the other night (at Columbus). I'm glad we're following through on things."