Maple Leafs hand Blackhawks third straight loss

William Nylander opened the scoring after just 9 seconds into the game and had two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Wednesday night.

pic.twitter.com/Fqe9s9qkc0

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2023

This marks the third straight loss for the Blackhawks, who haven’t lost three straight since December when they would go on to lose five.

Nylander joined Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Phil Kessel as the only Maples players over the last 20 years to reach 30 goals in 55 games or fewer.

The goal was the also fourth-fastest to start a game in franchise history behind only Charlie Conacher in 1932 (7 seconds), Mitch Marner in 2019 (7 seconds) and Ted Kennedy in 1953 (8 seconds).

William Nylander joined Auston Matthews (4x; last: 2021-22), John Tavares (2018-19) and Phil Kessel (2011-12) as the fourth @MapleLeafs player in the past 20 years to reach the 30-goal mark in 55 or fewer games.#NHLStats: https://t.co/W4xXBsNL9y pic.twitter.com/EX4f43xax9

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— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 16, 2023

Matthews, Tavares and Rasmus Sandin each added a goal and an assist, and Conor Timmins also scored for the Maple Leafs, who won for the fifth time in eight games.

”I didn’t think the game had much life to it. Not what you come to expect in terms of what it’s like to play in the NHL,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. ”We’re happy to get through it with two points.”

Sam Lafferty and Phillip Kurashev each had a goal and assist for Chicago.

Kurashev notched the second goal for the Blackhawks, his first since January 19. He now has seven goals and 14 assists on the season.

‘Our guys fought to the end,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. ”There was no give-up.”

Blackhawks visit Ottawa Senators on Friday night to finish a four-game trip. The Maple Leafs: host Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night to finish a three-game homestand.