It was a wild one between the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, but one player emerged to take control.
Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks’ captain, scored the natural hat trick, including two goals in the third period, as Chicago completed its comeback with a 6-5 victory over the Senators.
“If you’re a fan and you watch him play tonight, you’re gonna say, ‘Wow.’ That was a special performance,” said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville, as per Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago.
The Blackhawks fell behind by a pair of goals just after the midway point of the second period, which led to back-up Nikolai Khabibulin getting the yank. It’s the second straight game in which the veteran netminder has struggled.
That meant Corey Crawford, who played on Monday, had to come in to relieve Khabibulin.
But while Khabibulin hasn’t necessarily been the Bulin Wall he once was, pinning the Blackhawks’ deficit in this one wouldn’t be right, according to Toews.
“Corey coming in made us realize we have to be better in front of our goaltender, and putting it on Khabby is unfair,” said Toews, as per Myers.