But they pulled ahead, as players like Ryan Donato, Nick Foligno, Craig Smith, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Connor Bedard helped push the team into the win column.
The team won 4-3, in OT with the Blackhawks winning the shoot-out, as Ryan Donato, Connor Bedard, and Teuvo Teravainen scored one after the other.
But, of course, no one likes to lose, and there were some cases where you could've thought the referees were blind last night.
That Toronto was acting in favor of the Kings, who earned a couple of penalties early in the 1st that seemed egregious.
One was the interference call on Pat Maroon, against Tanner Jeannot, which to my eyes doesn't look like a penalty.
It looks like Maroon would penalized for being almost tripped by Jeannot himself. Like he meant to plant himself in Jeannot's lane?
The notion and call is ridiculous.
This was the 2nd call of the night against the Blackhawks, of which Jeannot was the "victim". Craig Smith incurred a tripping penalty against Jeannot, which led to the Kings' power-play goal in the 1st period, by Alex Laferriere.
If it wasn't for Donato, and Bertuzzi coming clutch in the last 2 periods the Blackhawks could've been counted out against the Kings.
This was an instance of a team that was able to mount a comeback to overcome bad refereeing to secure a win.
While the reffing was terrible, this was uncharacteristic of the Richardson-led squad. Therefore, I think Captain Foligno should get the credit for this victory partially.
Nick Foligno's tilt with Jeannot was helpful in lighting a fire under the Hawks to achieve what they should've. His leadership has been what the team needs, but they need to play to standards laid out by himself as well.