Considering the way everything seemingly has gone against them in the last few weeks, the Blackhawks easily could have folded Friday against the Maple Leafs.
But halfway through the second period, the scrappy resilience the Hawks wanted to be their signature trait under coach Luke Richardson during this rebuild — a trait that had been harder than usual to identify in their play recently — suddenly re-emerged.
The Hawks used a determined effort to rally from a two-goal deficit and earn a 4-3 overtime victory in one of the most entertaining games of the season. It was the opposite of folding.
Richardson correctly noted it was only one game — one game that doesn’t make up for the five consecutive losses that preceded it, bring back injured Taylor Hall or clarify the Corey Perry confusion. Many more losses inevitably lie ahead.
But it was one game from which the Hawks can derive some much-needed encouragement and happiness.
‘‘We needed this [today], and we really dug down and got it,’’ Richardson said, smiling.
There was no heartfelt meeting or impassioned speech that prompted the out-of-nowhere surge. There has been enough talk lately, after all. There was, however, a concerted effort to get back to the aforementioned hard-working identity.
‘‘I don’t think it came down to words,’’ forward Jason Dickinson said. ‘‘I think it came down to just looking at ourselves and saying: ‘We’re in this. Let’s go out and do it. [Let’s] just put our heart on our sleeve and show what we’ve got.’ ’’
The teams combined for 16 shots (10 on goal) during the chaotic overtime, giving every member of the season-high sellout crowd of 20,238 a natural adrenaline pill.
The Maple Leafs’ William Nylander nearly ruined the party when he rang the puck off both posts and the crossbar on a breakaway, but Hawks rookie Kevin Korchinski ignited the United Center by jamming in a loose puck with 30 seconds left after it had bounced over the top of the net.
‘‘[We worked on] channeling our emotions in a positive way,’’ Korchinski said. ‘‘Whether there’s a bad bounce [that] they score on or they’re up on us early, we can’t just get down on ourselves. We’ve got to get those positive vibes going.’’
Korchinski’s first real highlight-reel moment in the NHL, star rookie Connor Bedard’s team-high six shots on goal and four takeaways and young goalie Arvid Soderblom’s much-needed victorious start are all good signs for the Hawks’ future. The swagger of their young core evidently hasn’t been eroded by a hefty dose of adversity in the last week.
Nonetheless, it was Dickinson — the easily overlooked, 28-year-old journeyman center — who stood out most, notching his first hat trick in 379 NHL appearances.
Dickinson beat struggling Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov with a short-side shot in the first period, squeezed another puck through Samsonov in tight in the second, then sniped the top corner 15 seconds into the third before catching one of the hats that rained down.
Even beyond the goals, Dickinson’s performance was dominant. The Hawks held a 9-1 advantage in scoring chances during his five-on-five ice time. During the waning minutes of regulation, he won several battles in the defensive zone to help the Hawks get the puck out and change lines. In overtime, he beat Auston Matthews on the crucial opening faceoff.
Without Hall and Perry, the Hawks desperately needed another veteran to step up and fill those voids — and Dickinson delivered. He always has been an underrated defensive forward and a wise, calm, valuable voice in the locker room, but he evolved into an on- and off-ice leader Friday.
‘‘There’s been a lot of emotions going around with a lot going on,’’ he said. ‘‘A positive win at home, hard-fought, doing the right things — all of that leads into a really good feeling in this locker room to head forward.’’
