Hawks can't hold 4-goal lead, fall in shootout
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A 4-goal lead going to the third period is usually 2 points in the bank for the Blackhawks, but not Saturday night at the Excel Energy Center.
After building a 5-1 lead with a dazzling offensive display for two periods, the Hawks collapsed in the final 20 minutes and ended up losing to the Minnesota Wild 6-5 in a shootout.
It was the first time in franchise history the Hawks lost a game after leading by 4 goals in the third period.
They had been 21-1-0 when leading after two periods this season.
"There's no excuse for that," captain Jonathan Toews said. "We should find a way to close that out. We needed to find a way to kill their momentum and we didn't do that. They just kept building off it right into the shootout."
It wasn't a total defensive breakdown by the Hawks. The Wild scored 3 goals in a span of 2:06 midway through the final period then got the tying goal from Guillaume Latendresse with 1:33 to play.
Hawks goalie Cristobal Huet didn't have a great third period by any means. The tying goal by Latendresse, a snap shot from inside the left circle, went through Huet's pads.
"A couple pucks went through us," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said of the third-period meltdown. "It wasn't a disaster how we played, but the pucks got in there."
Marian Hossa's short-handed goal at 17:35 made it 5-1 and appeared to have the Hawks headed to their sixth straight win.
"I think we just weren't prepared for the third period," center John Madden said. "It's a lesson learned for sure. During the course of the year you have games where things just get out of control."
Minnesota's Kim Johnsson scored at 6:43 of the third from in front, Mikko Koivu on a rebound at 7:29 then Marek Zidlicky on a power play at 8:49.
Latendresse's tying goal came after Jordan Hendry lost a battle for the puck in the corner.
"Little breakdowns here and there," Toews said. "They put us in tough positions. They were working hard and beating us to pucks."
Even after their disastrous third period, the Hawks had five chances to win the game in the eight-round shootout, but Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer all failed with the game on their stick.
Owen Nolan scored in the eighth round for the Wild, but Madden couldn't answer.
"When you're down 5-1 in the last 20 minutes against one of the best teams in the league, I bet if you took a poll in the rink, there are not too many people that would have said the Wild were going to come back and win this game," Minnesota coach Todd Richards said.
Led by Patrick Kane, the Hawks put on a show offensively for two periods.
Kane made great plays and passes to set up goals by Toews and Brouwer to extend his points scoring streak to 11 games.
"The first 40 minutes we watched them skate, watched them make plays," Richards said. "But our guys stuck with it and played hard."