Jonathan Toews notched his fifth career hat trick, and Patrick Kane added three points as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in an overtime thriller.
Toews scored the game-tying goal with 13 minutes to go in regulation, and then scored the game-winner in overtime to give the Blackhawks their second straight win to open the season.
The Blues jumped out to an early advantage in the game thanks to their power play, as Colton Parayko buried a shot off a wonderful pass from Ryan O’Reilly. Less than three minutes later, Vladimir Tarasenko deflected a shot off of Blackhawks goaltender Cam Ward to stretch his team’s lead to 2-0 late in the first period.
Just a minute later, the Blackhawks responded. After Erik Gustafsson’s shot was denied by the Blues, Toews picked up the rebound near the front of the net and pushed home his second goal of the season, edging the Blackhawks closer as the period came to a close.
Early in the second, it was Kane’s turn, as he circled the zone before rifling home a shot past Jake Allen to knot things up at 2-2.
The Blackhawks took the lead later in the period, and once again it was Kane doing the hard work, feeding a perfect pass to Marcus Kruger. The Swedish center buried the shot past Allen, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 edge.
The Blues weren’t done however, scoring twice in 22 seconds early in the third period to take the lead back. Tarasenko tied things up with his second goal of the game, and Chris Butler scored his first goal of the season from the point to make it a 4-3 game.
Chicago Blackhawks
With 13 minutes to go, Toews struck again, tying the game at 4-4 off the first career assist for defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
In overtime, Toews got the puck on a breakaway and eventually beat Allen five-hole, giving the Blackhawks a 5-4 victory and four points to start the season.
The Blackhawks won’t have much time to savor the victory, as they will head home to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in their home opener Sunday night.
