Blackhawks Celebrate 1st Centennial Celebration With 3-2 Win Over Maple Leafs

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs squared off in an Original Six matchup on Saturday, Nov. 15. It was also the first Centennial Celebration game of the season for the Blackhawks. The United Center was packed with a festive crowd. They were hoping to see a home-game win after a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday (Nov. 12). Before that, they Hawks had enjoyed three road wins.

The Maple Leafs came to Chicago without superstar Auston Matthews, who was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury on Nov. 14. Nonetheless, Toronto was hoping to snap a four-game losing stretch.

Cam Talbot Detroit Red Wings Auston Matthews Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently missing Auston Matthews to an upper body injury. (Gerry Angus-Imagn Images)

After some nostalgic pre-game festivities, fans settled in for what they hoped would be an entertaining matchup. Once it was all said and done, the Blackhawks were victorious by a score of 3-2.

Game Recap

The Blackhawks’ Ryan Greene got the scoring started at the 11:05 mark in the first period to make it 1-0 for the home team. It was the rookie’s second goal of the season, with a nice set up by defenseman Artyom Levshunov. The young blueliner now has 10 assists through 17 games. Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser was credited with the secondary assist.

But the Maple Leafs answered back with just 47.8 seconds left in the first to tie it 1-1. The goal was by Nicholas Robertson and assisted by John Tavares. It was Robertson’s fifth goal of the season and Tavares’ 13th assist.

The Maple Leafs struck again in the second, this time with a goal by Morgan Rielly. The Blackhawks challenged the goal, saying there was a missed high stick before the goal. But they lost the challenge and the goal stood. Rielly was assisted by Oliver Ekman-Larssen (his 11th assist) and William Nylander (his 18th assist).

The Blackhawks tied things up in the third period with a goal by Teuvo Teravainen, his fourth of the season. He as assisted by Frank Nazar (his seventh assist) and Oliver Moore (his second assist).

It was quite the pretty pass by Nazar, and a beautiful finish by Teravainen.

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With just over four minutes to go in the game, Colton Dach tipped in a howitzer of a shot by defenseman Louis Crevier. It was Dach’s second goal of the season and Crevier’s seventh assist. Ilya Mikheyev was credited with the secondary assist.

The Blackhawks were then able to shut the Maple Leafs down for the rest of the game to earn the win, 3-2.

What’s Next?

The Blackhawks will continue their homestand on Tuesday, Nov. 18, hosting the Calgary Flames. The Maple Leafs’ next contest is also this Tuesday. They will return home to host the St. Louis Blues.

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