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 The Chicago center scored his fifth overtime game-winner of the
season with 28.5 seconds remaining as the Blackhawks defeated the
Arizona Coyotes, 5-4 on Thursday at Gila River Arena.
Toews had two goals for the Blackhawks in a game in which eight
different players scored.
Corey Crawford made 24 saves for Chicago while Louis Domingue had 35
for Arizona.
"I'm just getting opportunities and if you get a few early in the
season you feel confident in that situation," said Toews of his five
overtime goals. "I think I had at least four shifts in overtime, and
the play is going back and forth so somebody is going to score. It's
nice that I've been able to cash in."
Chicago thought it had taken a 1-0 lead when right winger Marian
Hossa banked a backhand off Coyotes defenseman Klas Dahlbeck's shin
pad and past Domingue, but officials ruled that Hossa interfered
with Domingue's stick before the shot.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was incensed by the call and drew
a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.
On the ensuing power play, Arizona center Martin Hanzal corralled a
puck in the corner of the Chicago zone and fed defenseman Oliver
Ekman-Larsson as he crashed the net. Ekman-Larsson beat Crawford
high to the glove side for a 1-0 lead at 17:12 of the first period.
"I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a joke," Hossa said of his
disallowed goal. "I tried to battle in front of the net and I didn't
have any intention to try to touch the goalie.
"I don't know what's going to happen in the playoffs, if this is
going to be the call after good goals, but I don't think its good
for the league."
Hossa got the disallowed goal back 2:53 into the second period when
he beat Coyotes center Boyd Gordon in a footrace from the corner to
the net. Hossa pulled Domingue off the post as he cut across the
slot and slipped it in the open side to tie the game at 1.
The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead 1:07 later on Toews' third
short-handed goal of the season. Hossa carried the puck up the right
wing with Hanzal draped all over him. Despite the coverage, Arizona
forward Mikkel Boedker cheated toward Hossa, allowing him to pass
across to an unmarked Toews, who deked Domingue to the ice and
backhanded the puck into the net.
Coyotes right winger Anthony Duclair was back on the play but never
picked up Toews.
"Duclair is right with Toews, and he just goes for a skate," Coyotes
coach Dave Tippett said. "That's just a young mistake. Boeds should
have switched over but he thinks Duclair is taking Toews."
After Blackhawks left winger Andrew Shaw took a run at Coyotes
defenseman Zbynek Michalek behind the Coyotes net, earning a double
minor, Arizona tied the game on Boedker's 13th goal of the season
from the left circle at 12:34 of the second period. It was Boedker's
first goal in 16 games.
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The Coyotes took a 3-2 lead nine seconds later when left winger
Jordan Martinook got enough stick on a rebound of center Brad
Richardson's shot to push it past Crawford.
Chicago right winger Patrick Kane scored his league-leading 31st
goal from the right circle when he beat Domingue between the pads to
tie the game at 3-3 at14:10.
Chicago defenseman Michal Rozsival scored his first goal of the
season and first since Dec. 5, 2014, when he took a feed from center
Artem Anisimov at the doorstep for an easy tap-in and a 4-3 lead at
7:18 of the third period.
Coyotes right winger Shane Doan tied the game at 4 on a wraparound
at 11:30 for his team-leading 18th goal of the season to at least
earn the Coyotes a point.
"It was big getting the one point but we've got to find ways to get
that second one," Doan said. "Right now in the division, everything
is so tight. Two points are important."
NOTES: The Coyotes recalled RW Steve Downie from Springfield of the
American Hockey League on Wednesday, but he was not in the lineup.
... Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews was back in the lineup after serving
an automatic one-game suspension for skipping the All-Star Game.
Toews told reporters he was dealing with body aches and had trouble
sleeping, and even breathing on the ice for the team's last game
before the break against Carolina. ... Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival
returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a
lower-body injury. ... Coyotes coach Dave Tippett gave his team an
unexpected day off from practice Wednesday after the team played
poorly in its first game back from the All-Star break. Tippett said
a couple unidentified players came in ill and he didn't want the
illness to spread so he sent everyone home. ... Coyotes D Nicklas
Grossmann was a healthy scratch.
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