The Chicago Blackhawks had an opportunity to beat the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, but two goals from Mike Hoffman lifted the home side to a 4-3 overtime victory.
Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov, and Artemi Panarin all registered three points for the Hawks, but it wasn’t enough as Chicago lost their third consecutive game.
Just a minute and a half into the game, the Senators scored to seize an early lead. Kyle Turris picked up a loose puck in the corner following an awkward bounce off the boards, and he found a wide open Mike Hoffman for the goal to put Ottawa ahead 1-0.
After the early punch, the Blackhawks responded with numerous chances of their own, but Craig Anderson was up to the task. The best one came on a 2-on-1 rush for Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw, with the latter forward firing a shot that Anderson knocked into the corner to prevent the rebound chance for the former.
After Marian Hossa was whistled for an uncharacteristic offensive zone penalty, Ottawa extended their lead to two goals. Erik Karlsson made a really nice play in the slot as he found a streaking Bobby Ryan, and the winger fired a shot off of Corey Crawford’s shoulder to make it a 2-0 game.
The Blackhawks did get a great opportunity late in the period on a lengthy possession by their second line. Niklas Hjalmarsson contributed with a couple of pinches to fire shots on goal, and then Duncan Keith executed a give and go with Patrick Kane, but none of the opportunities found paydirt as Ottawa maintained their two-goal edge through 20 minutes of play.
As the second period got underway, the Blackhawks seemed to finally find their groove, and with a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, they capitalized. After several cycles of the puck, Patrick Kane got open down at the goal line, and with a one-on-one chance against Anderson, the winger extended his points streak as he ripped a quick wrist shot through the five hole to cut Ottawa’s lead to 2-1.
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The Senators punched back nicely as the period wore on, but it was Chicago that ultimately capitalized and tied the game up. Kane faked a shot from the top of the point and started to drive into the zone, but as he took his first stride he dropped a pass to Artemi Panarin. The rookie drove through the middle of the ice and beat Anderson on the glove side to knot the game up at 2-2.
Early in the third period, Ottawa got another power play thanks to a too many men penalty on the Blackhawks, and they scored to take the lead. As a shot bounced off of traffic and went up in the air, Mark Stone caught sight of it, waited until it descended below crossbar level, and whacked the puck out of midair and into the net to put the Senators ahead 3-2.
The Blackhawks failed to score on a mid-period power play, but a few minutes later they tied things up when the game returned to even strength. Once again it was Kane setting the table, as he drove behind the Ottawa net and threw a no-look pass to the netfront. Artem Anisimov was there to get the puck and fired a one-timer off of Anderson’s back and into the net to make it a 3-3 game with seven minutes to play.
Both teams had chances to take the lead late in the contest, with Kane getting denied on a one-timer chance and Karlsson setting up a one-timer of his own at the end of regulation.
The overtime period went Ottawa’s way in short order, as Hoffman scored his second goal of the game to give the Senators a 4-3 victory.
The Blackhawks will look to snap their three game losing streak on Sunday when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to the United Center.
