Kings fall short to Blackhawks in overtime
CHICAGO — Jonathan Toews converted Jake McCabe’s pass into an open-net goal in overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Kings 2-1 on Thursday night.
The Blackhawks ended a four-game winless streak and dropped the Kings to 2-2-1 in their last four.
“I think we can get back to simplifying a little bit and making it harder on the other team,” Toews said. “Right now, it’s fun to just go play. They weren’t any for this team or myself this year.
“Caber was kind of going back door there, one of their defensemen got a stick on it, and Caber got a second chance and made a really nice play,” Toews said of the setup for his winner.
Chicago’s Jason Dickinson opened the scoring with a deflection of Caleb Jones’ drive from the right point 12:54 into the second period. The lead lasted 3 1/2 minutes, until the Kings’ Blake Lizotte converted Arthur Kaliyev’s two-on-one pass behind goaltender Arvid Soderblom for a 1-1 deadlock.
Soderblom, making his first start with Chicago’s regular goaltenders sidelined, stopped Kevin Fiala from in front with 3:45 to play to help force the overtime session, then turned back Trevor Moore’s wrist shot from 15 feet 45 seconds into OT.
“Today felt good right from the start,” Soderblom said. “I’ll just try to take it day-by-day. I feel great in the net.”
The tight-checking contest featured few good scoring chances until the Kings took three shots at Soderblom within five seconds midway through the second. Adrian Kempe, Gabriel Vilardi and Mikey Anderson were all turned back.
Kings forward Gabe Vilardi struggled with a back injury for so long that his future with the team was in doubt. Today, he leads them in goals.
The Kings threatened again 8:18 into the third, but Carl Grundstrom fired wide from 20 feet out from the left-wing circle.
“I didn’t think we had as much polish as we’ve shown offensively,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.
Soderblom turned back 32 Kings shots.
“His ability to stay cool and make a big backdoor save [on Fiala], he doesn’t just do that,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “He then controls his body and seals the post so there’s no rebound. I saw him in rookie camp and an exhibition game, but this is a different animal when you get to the season.”
Quick stopped 17 Chicago shots.
“I think that’s actually more of our identity,” Lizotte said. “I thought we were pretty tight defensively. I think that’s actually a good sign for us, that we’re in these 1-1 games versus 6-5 shootouts.”
The NHL’s replay review system wiped out a potential four-minute Kings power play early in the third period, the review detecting Kaliyev lifting the stick of Jones, which in turn hit Lizotte in the face.
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