Blackhawks Lose Lead in Third Again, Fall 4-3 in OT to Dallas

Game Summary

The Blackhawks had Dallas on the ropes. Tyler Bertuzzi deflected one past Casey DeSmith at 6:59 of the first period, and Sam Rinzel followed less than two minutes later with a blast from the slot — set up by Teuvo Teravainen and Oliver Moore — to make it 2-0. Chicago carried that lead through a scoreless second period, with Arvid Soderblom holding his ground and the defense blocking 22 shots on the night. Then the third arrived. Mavrik Bourque tied it 42 seconds in, Justin Hryckowian converted on the power play at 9:40 — off a Louis Crevier tripping penalty — and just like that Chicago was down 3-2 and chasing again.

Connor Bedard forced overtime by scoring with 1:20 left in regulation, pulling Soderblom for the extra attacker and converting off feeds from Teravainen and Frank Nazar for his 26th of the season. It wasn't enough. Miro Heiskanen scored 22 seconds into overtime on a Matt Duchene pass, and the Stars walked away with a 4-3 win. Chicago falls to 23-29-11. Dallas is now 11-0-1 in their last 12. The Blackhawks have dropped to 2-7-4 in their last 13, and the third-period collapses — Winnipeg was the same story five days ago — are becoming a thread that runs through every close loss this team has.

The game also lost Oliver Moore at 1:49 of the first period — seconds after he assisted on Rinzel's goal — when he slid hard into the end boards and did not return. The injury was undisclosed. Soderblom, meanwhile, was making his second consecutive start of the season with Spencer Knight out sick, and he was solid: 27 saves on 31 shots. Dallas outshot Chicago 31-19, won 69% of faceoffs, and out-hit the Blackhawks 27-10, but this one was a game Chicago could have won.

Three Stars

The New-Look Roster

Two games into the post-deadline era and the new-look Blackhawks are 0-2, but Sunday in Dallas was the more competitive of the two. This is a team that lost Connor Murphy, Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach, and Nick Foligno within a week — and they built a 2-0 road lead against the second-best team in the Western Conference. That's not nothing. Rinzel's goal was a genuine NHL moment: a hard shot from the slot that beat DeSmith cleanly, off a Teravainen-Moore setup. Teravainen finished with two assists and a +3. Nazar had two assists and continues to be one of the more reliable players on this roster night to night. Bedard's late equalizer — set up by Teravainen and Nazar with the net empty — was exactly the kind of play this team needs from its top line when the game is on the line.

The concerns haven't gone away. Moore's injury is the most pressing issue — losing him after six shifts on a night when the roster is already thin from the deadline trades and the Foligno deal is a problem with no obvious short-term solution. The faceoff situation is the other thread: Bedard won 1 of 9 draws on Sunday, and Chicago won just 31% overall. With Dickinson gone, there's no one in this lineup who changes that math, and Dallas's top centermen — Duchene, Johnston, Robertson — controlled possession in the third period in ways that directly led to the lead evaporating. Andrew Mangiapane played 12 minutes in his second game as a Blackhawk without recording a point; he'll get there, but the short-turnaround back-to-back stretch is not the easiest window for him to find his footing.

Looking Ahead

Chicago is back home Monday night for a back-to-back against Utah at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The Mammoth come in at 34-25-4, fourth in the Central. Chicago beat Utah 4-0 on the road on March 1 — Soderblom with the shutout, Teravainen with two goals — and there's a blueprint here. The questions are what the lineup looks like with Moore's status unknown and Knight still potentially ill, and whether this team has the legs to replicate that performance 24 hours after 65 minutes in Dallas. It's a winnable game. Right now this stretch is about the young core finding what they are without the veterans who were just traded — and getting back on the right side of a game they almost had on Sunday would go a long way.