It was one of the crazier nights at United Center on Friday. During warmups, the news broke that the Chicago Blackhawks were scratching Taylor Hall and Seth Jones.
Jones was announced to be sick but it was a healthy scratch for Hall. We learned early in the game that a trade was coming involving the former Hart Trophy winner.
Hall was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in a blockbuster that involved stars like Mikko Rantanen and Martin Necas. It's one of the biggest trades in NHL history.
There was also a game on the ice that followed as the Hawks took on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa isn't one of the three or four best teams in the league anymore but they are still a playoff-bound team that can make a deep run.
Tampa opened the scoring when Mitchell Chaffee scored a power-play goal about midway through the first period. About five minutes of game clock later, Colton Dach scored his first career NHL goal to tie it up.
Frank Nazar then gave the Hawks the lead with 1:13 remaining in the opening period. Playing with Connor Bedard paid dividends for him there. Seeing Nazar score a few minutes after his buddy Dach scored his first was a sign of things to come in future years for Chicago.
In the second period, the Blackhawks extended their lead to two goals. Louis Crevier scored his third goal of the season. He has played well for the Blackhawks this season.
After assisting on Dach's goal, it became a multi-point effort for him. Frank Nazar assisted on the Crevier goal which gave him a multi-point night as well.
Another multi-goal lead was held in the second period against a great team. Up to that point, the Blackhawks were skating so well and deserved to be leading the game.
Things started to go a bit south for them after that. Nick Paul scored with 8 seconds left in the second period. Once again, they found a terrible way to end the period.
In the third, the Blackhawks stood tall for the first 19 minutes for consecutive periods. With Tampa goalie Jonas Johansson on the bench, however, the Lightning tied it up at 19:19. Nikita Kucherov threw one in front and Jake Guentzel tapped it in to tie the game.
At the very end of regulation (19:56), Teuvo Teravainen took a tripping penalty which set up Tampa for an overtime power play. They took full advantage as Nikita Kucherov scored the game-winner at :58 of the extra period.
Arvid Soderblom was amazing for the Blackhawks, especially in the second half of the game. The Blackhawks only ended the night with 14 shots on goal despite skating well early on but Tampa ended up with 40. Soderblom was under duress a lot down the stretch. He deserved better but the team ultimately failed him.
Lost in all of the chaos was the fact that Ethan Del Mastro made his season debut. The Blackhawks called him up from the Rockford IceHogs on Thursday. Del Mastro ended the game with 15:49 of ice time and two hits.
Now, they have to regroup. Hall is gone, more moves are coming, and the Hawks will host the Minnesota Wild on Sunday evening for another tilt against a top team.
