ANALYSIS: Blackhawks 'Win One for Murph' in Comeback Victory in Ottawa

Early in the first period was an all-too-familiar sight for the Blackhawks this season. Just 2:40 into the contest, Connor Murphy was injured after taking a hit from Parker Kelly in the corner and then was stretchered off the ice.
Murphy, it's important to note, was monitored at the arena by the team's medical staff for what was deemed an upper body injury and is well enough to be traveling home with the team Saturday night -- as will Tyler Johnson, who left the game in concussion protocol after taking a puck to the side of the head in the first.

POSTGAME LINKS
GAMECENTER: CHI at OTT
RECAP: Blackhawks Battle Back for 6-3 Win Over Senators
HIGHLIGHTS: Blackhawks at Senators
GALLERY: Blackhawks at Senators
When play resumed, the Blackhawks had a five-minute power play as a result of a major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding issued to Kelly. But it was Ottawa who capitalized with a shorthanded tally just 40 seconds in and added a second goal later in the frame to take a 2-0 lead into the room. Aside from four shots during the five-minute man advantage, the still-shocked Chicago lineup had just two shots on goal the rest of the period.
"It's hard not to be rattled and for a second your focus is taken away from the game and it's kind of hard to regroup and to care about the game when your thoughts are with your teammate and you really don't know if he's OK. It looked like a pretty serious situation, Murph was being put on the stretcher."
"It's really tough when you see your teammate go down, especially a guy like Murph," Caleb Jones added. "He's kind of a heart and soul guy. It's tough to bounce back. I think we had to kind of get our feet under us there the rest of the first and we just came out in the second and said, 'Let's win this one for Murph.'"

REGROUP AND RESPOND

The team was able to reset in the locker room at the intermission, seeing that Murphy was doing better and having a moment to collect themselves away from the ice surface. Coming out for the second, the game was theirs for the taking.
Toews struck twice in first three minutes of the middle frame to tie the game. Jones then put the visitors in front with a lethal wrister after a lengthy spell in the offensive zone. The Senators tied things up late in the second, but Sam Lafferty answered eight seconds later and Chicago never looked back. By the night's end, the Blackhawks prevailed 6-3 victors.
"I think we all got a second to take a deep breath after what happened to Murph and we got to regroup and just respond as a team," Toews said. "Getting a couple goals like that helped and then we just stuck with our game from then on out. It was nice to see guys like Laff score a big one coming right back after that one that we gave up at the end of a power play, Jonesy score another one after a nice long shift in their zone. I think overall everyone was jumping in on the offense tonight, so it was fun to see."
"It was just like, 'Guys, there's a lot of hockey left,' and 'Relax and just play,'" interim head coach Derek King said of his message. "We were just off a little bit... Just kind of calmed them down and focused on a period at a time and just go out there and play hockey. They did, they did a great job."

HISTORY FOR 88

Yet another Blackhawks all-time mark fell on Saturday night as the first of Patrick Kane's three assists in the game moved him into sole possession of second in franchise points at 1,154. By the night's end, he would raise his total to 1,156 career points, shy of only Stan Mikita's 1,467 in all-time Blackhawks lore.
"It's another special milestone. That's a big one," said Toews, who Kane setup on his historic helper. "Knew that he was tied going into the night and didn't even think about it (during the game). After the game, King mentioned it and congratulated Kaner in the room. Then you just kind of realize how crazy that is, how long Kaner's been doing what he's doing and just the heights he's reached at this point in his career. And we all know that he's not done yet.
"It's pretty incredible for him. He just seems to continue to do it. Sometimes you take it for granted -- it's what you expect from him at this point, but it's not to say that he (isn't) a special player and just had an incredible career for the Blackhawks. It was fun to watch and it was great to see again tonight."