RECAP: Blackhawks End Season with OT Loss in LA

The Blackhawks closed out their 2023-24 season on Thursday night in a back-and-forth thriller, falling 5-4 in overtime to the LA Kings in the final contest of the NHL regular-season.

Lukas Reichel put Chicago in front late in the first period before a three-goal middle frame from LA swung the momentum the other way after 40 minutes of play. Tyler Johnson, Joey Anderson and Ryan Donato turned things back around early in the third, each scoring within a five-minute span to give Chicago a 4-3 lead. The Kings, though, leveled the game again on a power-play with 1:21 to play to knot things 4-4, forcing overtime, where Adrian Kempe needed just six seconds of the extra frame to find the winner for the Kings, 5-4. 

Chicago finished the season with a 23-53-6 record and will have the second-best odds entering the Draft Lottery ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft in late June.

QUICK HITS

• Chicago scored three goals in a single period for the 12th time overall this season and the eighth since the start of March.
• Ryan Donato, who scored the opening goal of the season for the Blackhawks in October, found the 4-3 go-ahead goal in the third period in what would be the team's final goal of the year.
• Lukas Reichel notched his fifth goal of the season to open the scoring, intercepting an LA faceoff win in the Blackhawks zone, showcasing a burst of speed to split the Kings defensemen and then converting a nifty backhand move on a breakaway.
• Tyler Johnson tied Nick Foligno for the team lead in power-play goals, each with eight on the year.
• Joey Anderson scored his fifth goal of the season, one shy of his season-best six tallies a year ago split between the Toronto Maple Leafs (2) and Chicago (4).
• Jason Dickinson skated in his 82nd game of the year, the only Blackhawks player to appear in every game on the season and the first time he's skated in all 82 games in a campaign.
• Kevin Korchinski reached a double-digit tally in assists with his 10th of the season setting up Johnson's power-play strike.
• Landon Slaggert picked up an assist on Anderson's goal, his fourth point (1G, 2A) in 16 games to begin his NHL career.

THEY SAID IT

• "There are moments that cost us tonight's game at the end, but I think the perserverence in the third period, we have to learn from both. We have to learn that we have the ability to come back in a game, and we have to learn how to hold on to leads, and do all the little things to preserve that and win on the road." - Head coach Luke Richardson on team's effort in comeback. 
• "I think I always want to score and have to kill instinct. I think proved that at the end of the season here and I want to keep doing that in the playoffs (for Rockford)." - Lukas Reichel on goal, finishing the season with confidence.
• "I was proud of the way we battled back and got back in the game. We've got some work ahead of us this offseason and into next year." - Nick Foligno on team's effort in the third.

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