Canadiens blow 3rd period lead, lose to Blackhawks in overtime

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Philipp Kurashev scored in 2:24 of overtime to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 victory over the Canadiens on Thursday night at the United Center. Two video reviews were needed to confirm the target. The first was to determine if the puck entered when Kurashev collided with Sam Montembeault and the second to confirm that Kurashev was in play when he entered the zone.

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The Blackhawks’ power play charged early in the third period when Patrick Kane scored for the first time in 14 games to tie the game 2-2. Kane scored from deep in the right faceoff circle on a shot past Montembeault.

Alex DeBrincat had a chance on a later power play but hit a post and Montembeault came across the box to save it a minute later.

One of the reasons the Canadiens are last in the league in offense is because they don’t get enough shots at the net. There were 5:30 left in the first half when Corey Schueneman registered the first shot on Marc-André Fleury. The Blackhawks outshot Montreal 13-2 in the first period and Montembeault was the only reason the Canadiens came out of the first period trailing just 1-0.

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Chicago opened the scoring when veteran Jonathan Toews found Dominik Kubalik with a stretched pass. Kubalik got behind Ben Chiariot and David Savard and slid the puck past Montembeault.

The Canadians came out with more jump in the second half. They had the first six shots on goal and equalized when Jeff Petry scored his first goal of the season at 12:41. Alexander Romanov’s shot went wide, but it went wide on the other side of the net and Petry, who had averaged 12 goals a season for the past four seasons, found an opportunity behind Fleury on the short side. It was Petry’s first goal since May 1, 2021.

Romanov played a key role in the go-ahead goal even though he was sitting in the penalty box when Mike Hoffman ended a 13-game drought with a power play goal late in the second period. Ryan Carpenter objected when Romanov landed a clean punch on Sam Lafferty. Carpenter challenged Romanov to a fight and the Canadiens started the power play when Carpenter was handed a 10-minute instigation and misconduct penalty.

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The power play goal was Montreal’s first since Nov. 20. They went 0-for-26 in a span of 10 games.

Coach Dominique Ducharme made four lineup changes following Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Bruins in Boston.

The original plan was to give Jake Evans and Romanov a couple more days to get back into shape after being isolated in the US after testing positive for COVID, but they both returned to the roster.

Romanov replaced Chris Wideman, who was suspended one game for headbutting Boston’s Erik Haula during a third-quarter altercation Wednesday. There was another change in defense, with Schueneman replacing Sami Niku.

The Blackhawks took advantage of the Canadiens’ visit to host Andrew Shaw’s legacy night. Shaw played for both teams during a 10-year NHL career that ended prematurely due to concussion problems. He was part of two Stanley Cup winners in Chicago in 2013 and 2015.

This was the fifth stop on what has become a 10-game road trip, spanning parts of two years. The Canadiens were supposed to play a home game against the New Jersey Devils at home on Saturday, but that game has been postponed and Montreal is out until Monday when they will play an afternoon game against the Arizona Coyotes.

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