Toews, Blackhawks nip Blue Jackets in OT

[October 19, 2019]    Jonathan Toews scored on a rebound 46 seconds into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) looks to pass the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Sonny Milano (22) during the second period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Toews was charging the left side of the net when Patrick Kane rifled a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that caromed off the pads of Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins into the hip of Toews and then into the net.

Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist, Kane notched two assists, and Drake Caggiula also scored a goal for Chicago, which won its second straight game after opening the season with three consecutive losses. Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner finished with 37 saves.

Markus Nutivaara and Pierre-Luc Dubois each scored for Columbus, which had a two-game winning streak snapped. Merzlikins, making just his second career NHL start, finished with 30 saves.

Columbus dominated action for most of the first period but couldn't get the puck past Lehner, who had a handful of outstanding saves. The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead at the 15:35 mark when Caggiula received a long pass off the boards by DeBrincat and fired a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle past Merzlikins' glove and off the bottom of the crossbar for his first goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets tied it early in the second period when Dubois flipped the puck around Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy inside the blue line and then broke in and beat Lehner with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle for his third goal of the season. It also was the 50th career goal for the 21-year-old left winger, who reached that total in the second fewest games (171) in franchise history behind only Rick Nash (133).

Nutivaara then gave Columbus a 2-1 lead at 2:55 of the third period with his second goal of the season, chipping in the rebound of his own shot from the bottom of the right circle.

DeBrincat tied it five minutes later with a power-play goal, one-timing a cross-ice feed from Kane from inside the top of the left circle.

--Field Level Media

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