The Blackhawks fell to the Boston Bruins 2-1 in overtime at the United Center on Tuesday.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. Marc-Andre Fleury put on an absolute show and it was a treat to watch, although probably not for the coaching staff. He stopped the first 39 shots he faced, 35 of which came in the first two periods, and finished with 46 saves on 48 shots for a save percentage of .958. Vintage performance by No. 29, who stole a point for the Blackhawks.
2. A second note on Fleury: He had allowed at least three goals in six straight games prior to Tuesday. He hadn't been as sharp as of late, but you wonder how much of that has to do with workload. He's started in 43 of the 60 games this season. For reference, here's the amount of starts he's made over the previous five years: 36, 48, 61, 46 and 34, respectively. That's an average of 45 per season.
3. The Bruins dominated in just about every statistical category through two periods: Shot attempts (56-23), shots on goal (35-11), scoring chances (24-9) and high-danger chances (10-2), per Natural Stat Trick. It's wild that the Blackhawks went into the third period in a 0-0 tie.
4. Brandon Hagel has been really good over the last few weeks. He scored the game-tying goal in the third period for his 21st of the season and remains on pace for a 31-goal campaign across 82 games. He also extended his point streak to five games; he has four goals and three assists over that span.
5. During 5-on-5 action, the Blackhawks gave up 16 high-danger chances. That's the most they've given up in a game this season; the previous high was 15 in a 5-4 overtime win over Washington on Dec. 12.
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6. The Blackhawks generated only four high-danger chances in all situations. It's their third-lowest total in a game this season. The offense dried up after a recent offensive explosion.
7. If you thought this game felt like a lot of stop-and-go action, it's because it was. There were 54 total stoppages in regulation. That's almost a whistle per minute. Yuck.
8. In the last game against Boston, the Blackhawks committed three penalties in the second period and the Bruins made them pay on two of those chances. Well, Chicago's penalty kill was better after it killed off all four penalties in this game but a big reason was thanks to Fleury. The Bruins generated seven scoring chances on their four opportunities.
9. This was another physical game between these two teams, picking up where they left off in Boston. The Blackhawks had 30 hits and the Bruins had 28 hits.
10. The Blackhawks were without Tyler Johnson and Connor Murphy, both of whom are in concussion protocol. Johnson left Saturday's game at the end of the first period after a Dominik Kubalik dump-in attempt hit the side of his head, and Murphy was stretchered off the ice on his second shift of the game after his head smacked against the boards from a hit by Ottawa forward Parker Kelly.