Nylander OT penalty shot lifts Maple Leafs past Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- William Nylander scored on a penalty shot six seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Wednesday.
"It's pretty nice," Nylander said. "I've had a couple breakaways in the previous games too where I haven't been able to score, so it's pretty nice to put one in on a breakaway."

Nylander won the opening face-off, took a pass from Auston Matthews, and drew a hooking penalty on Duncan Keith while going in on a breakaway. He went forehand to backhand to beat goalie Jeff Glass past his blocker on the penalty shot.
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"I think we just saw they lined up three across the red line, so we were able to get some offense right off the bat off the face-off," Nylander said. "I think that was one of the main factors of us getting the penalty shot. I just thought I needed to throw a little harder fake on him so he'd bite on that one. I went on the backhand in the two previous breakaways I had, I don't know actually why I went to the backhand, but third time's the lucky charm."
Mitchell Marner and Nazem Kadri scored for the Maple Leafs (27-18-5), who won for the second time in seven games (2-2-3).
"They were fast, we were slow in the first," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "They skated us into the ground, and it looked like [Jonathan] Toews and [Patrick] Kane still thought they should be the best players and we were just learning how to play. And then I thought we dug in and got playing better and, obviously, a big win for our hockey club. I don't think it was pretty, but we found a way to get it done."
Brent Seabrook scored, and Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (22-19-7), who lost their fourth straight game (0-3-1).
"A lot better tonight, but obviously we want two points," Schmaltz said. "Came out with one. Gotta regroup and get ready for tomorrow (against the Detroit Red Wings)."

Chicago went 1-4-1 on a six-game homestand and 2-5-1 at home in January.
Kadri gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead when he scored on the power play at 4:58 of the third period, tapping in a pass from Tyler Bozak at the top of the crease.
"It was just a bit of a scramble play," Kadri said. "Mitch tried to go for that shot-tip early on, we were able to retrieve the puck, go behind the net, and I just tried to get open in front of [Bozak]. I knew he was going to throw it to me, I just had to find a soft spot, and he made a great pass and I was able to put it in."
Schmaltz tied the game 2-2 when he scored on the rebound of an Artem Anisimov shot at 7:55. Babcock challenged for goalie interference by Anisimov, but the goal was upheld after video review.
Seabrook gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 5:29 of the first period when his slap shot redirected off Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov's stick and past goalie Frederik Andersen 11 seconds into a power play.
The Maple Leafs tied it 1-1 at 16:37 of the first when Marner tipped in a Jake Gardiner slap shot.
Andersen made 34 saves, and Glass made 33.

Goal of the game

Kadri's goal at 4:58 of the third period.

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Save of the game

Andersen stopping Anthony Duclair at 1:33 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Nylander's goal on a penalty shot six seconds into overtime.

They said it

"Sometimes on the road, you've got to wait it out a little bit and weather the storm. They're a good Chicago team and a pretty electric building to start so road wins are never pretty, but a win's a win." -- Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri
"It was a tough homestand, and when you look at it and you sum it all up points-wise, games that were valuable situations as far as keeping us in the race, and now we put ourselves in a tremendous hole. And then, hey, let's try to get a little life out of tomorrow (at the Detroit Red Wings), but we certainly left a lot on the table here." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville

Need to know

Nylander is tied with four players for the fastest overtime goal in NHL history, including Andreas Athanasiou for the Red Wings on Jan. 3. The others are: Mats Sundin for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dec. 30, 1995; David Legwand for the Nashville Predators, March 9, 2006; and Alex Ovechkin for the Washington Capitals on Dec. 15, 2006. ... Gardiner has six assists during a season-high four-game point streak. ... It was the 10th multipoint game of the season for Schmaltz. ... The Blackhawks scored two power-play goals after going 0-for-16 in their previous four games and 0-for-32 in their previous 10 at home.

What's next

Maple Leafs: At the Dallas Stars on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, TSN4, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: At the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)