The Chicago Blackhawks coughed up a two-goal lead in the third period on Saturday afternoon, and lost 5-4 in overtime to the Boston Bruins. Ryan Greene and Connor Bedard scored just a couple minutes apart in the third to build a 4-2 lead before the Bruins clapped back. With 12 seconds left in regulation, and their goalie pulled for the extra pressure, the Bruins tied the game.
Chicago falls to 4-9-1, with a sorely earned consolation point against one of the hottest teams in the league.
Anton Frondell scored twice and fired nine shots on goal. His power-play one-timer off of a Patrick Kane feed opened the scoring, his deflection restored the lead in the second, and his breakaway in overtime came within one overtime save of a hat trick plus the win.
This isn't a new theme, either. The inability to close was the theme of last Sunday's 3-2 loss to Florida, though that game came down to a poorly executed line change, rather than being snatched from the jaws of victory. Different opponent in a different building, but the same story of losing in the eleventh hour.
A young team like this one can be forgiven for a lot of October mistakes, but they're difficult to swallow when the lessons keep arriving in the same shape and form.
And yet the growth was there, as difficult to see as it can be thinking back on the game. The youngest roster in hockey just went on the road against a seriously hot contender and were the better team for almost all sixty minutes. The effort was there, the structure was there, and the future was all over the stat sheet.
That's the tension of the season all wrapped up into one game with a nice bow slapped on it. The Blackhawks are visibly becoming something, but they're still finding ways to lose games that would otherwise prove it. Moral victories are one thing, but they don't count for what really matters in the standings.
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This article was originally published on www.dawindycity.com as Blackhawks waste their best game of the season in overtime loss to Bruins .
