The Chicago Blackhawks blew a three-goal lead on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, falling 5-4 in overtime in the regular season finale.
Scott Hartnell scored two goals in the game, including the game-winner in overtime. Both Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin scored two goals apiece for the Blackhawks, who will look to regroup as the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin next week.
The Blackhawks wanted to get off to a quick start in the game, and that’s exactly what they did as they scored just nine seconds into the contest. Panarin skated quickly into the offensive zone and threw a pass across the ice to Kane, who rifled a one-timer just under the crossbar to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.
Later in the period, the Blackhawks extended their lead. On a power play, Panarin hammered a shot loudly off the post, but Brent Seabrook was able to keep the puck in the zone. Kane made a pass across to Panarin in the same spot, and this time the rookie sensation didn’t miss as he beat Sergei Bobrovsky to make it a 2-0 game.
Panarin kept up his excellent night at the office as he scored his 30th goal of the season. This one came on a breakaway, as he found a gap between Bobrovsky’s leg pads and gave the Hawks fans in Columbus a chance to cheer a three-goal advantage.
In the second period, the Blue Jackets slowly turned things around. After a shot ricocheted off the boards in the offensive zone, Scott Hartnell grabbed the rebound, got in behind Corey Crawford, and slid the puck into the empty net to make it a 3-1 game.
Matt Calvert scored the next goal of the game, and he got a bit of help to do it. Skating around the net, Calvert flipped a backhanded shot toward the net, and it ricocheted off of Trevor van Riemsdyk’s back and past Crawford to trim Chicago’s lead to one goal.
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A short time later, the Blue Jackets scored again. A tic-tac-toe play ensued in the zone, with Hartnell and Alexander Wennberg cycling the puck to Brandon Saad, and the former Blackhawks star scored his 31st of the season to knot things up at 3-3 after two periods.
Just three minutes into the third period, Columbus seized the lead. Wennberg notched his third point of the night off a quick feed from Hartnell, and when his one-timer evaded Crawford, the Jackets grabbed a 4-3 advantage.
Fortunately for the Blackhawks, they weren’t done scoring, and Kane notched his second goal of the night. Seabrook cycled the puck around the boards into the offensive zone, and once Marcus Kruger grabbed it, he found Kane in the slot for a slap shot tally and a 4-4 tie.
The Blackhawks had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but they couldn’t score on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play chance, and it ended up biting them in overtime. Cam Atkinson’s shot went wide of the net on a power play, and it ended up bouncing off of Hartnell and into the net to seal the win for the Jackets.
