RECAP: Maple Leafs 7, Blackhawks 6

RAPID REACTION:An unbelievable home opener saw the Blackhawks, once again, erase a third period deficit to force overtime. Two Patrick Kane goals late helped the team tie the game not once, but twice. In the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs escaped with a 7-6 victory.
The Blackhawks came out swinging in the first period, outshooting the Leafs 7-1 in the game's first four minutes. Jonathan Toews got a piece of a Dominik Kahun shot 9:00 into the game to make it 1-0 for the home team. Alex DeBrincat scored at 12:02 to increase the lead to 2-0.
It looked like it was going to be a long night for Toronto until Kasperi Kapanen and Auston Matthews scored 34 seconds apart in the first to tie the game.
The Leafs made it three in a row when John Tavares potted a goal at 3:56 of the second, giving the visitors their first lead of the night.

John Hayden tied the game at 5:49 of the middle frame, sending the United Center into a frenzy.
A Tavares power-play goal at 7:37 of the second made it 4-3 for the visitors.
Brandon Manning blasted home a shot at 2:20 of the third period to once again tie the game.
Unfortunately for Chicago, Tavares beat Ward for the hat trick at 9:29 of the third to put the Leafs on top 5-4.
Just when things were looking bleak for the Blackhawks, Kane scored his first of the night with Cam Ward pulled for the extra attacker and 1:24 left on the clock.
Matthews scored just 22 seconds later to drain the energy from the building and make it a 6-5 lead for the Leafs.
Kane sent the crowd into their largest frenzy of the evening when he scored again with 28.3 seconds left on the clock to tie the game for the second time in a blink of an eye.
Toronto, however, just needed 19 seconds in overtime before Morgan Reilly scored to give the visitors a win.
TOEWS' CAREER START:With five goals and an assist, Toews has more points - and goals - to start a season than he's had in his entire career. Up to this point, Toews had never before scored more than two goals or had more than four total points in an opening three games of a season. To give some perspective on this blazing start for the Blackhawks captain, his best point totals in an entire opening month of a season came in October of 2013-14. He scored seven goals and added six assists for 13 points in 13 games. There are still 10 full games of hockey left this month.

A NIGHT OF FIRSTS:Dominik Kahun had a memorable first period. He recorded his first NHL point on the game's opening goal. He then followed that up with his first career multi-point night by assisting on the second Blackhawks score. Speaking of firsts, Manning recorded his first goal as a Blackhawks player in the third period. Fellow free-agent signing Chris Kunitz recorded his first point as a Blackhawk on that goal.
KEITH'S HELPERS:Duncan Keith finished the game with three assists, all secondary helpers on the team's first three goals of the night.

KANE YOU BELIEVE IT:Kane lifted the team on his back late to tie it up not once, but twice in a matter of mere moments. Kane now has four goals through the first three games of the season and the team can thank him for helping gain a standings point in a game that was in doubt at the end. Kane paced the team with seven shots on goal.
TALKING POINTS:
"We're in here down 4-3 after two, going into the third period we just kind of had that belief that we've done it before and we can do it again, come back, try and tie it up and get a point or maybe get two out of it. I thought a lot different guys chipped in and did some good things tonight." - Patrick Kane on what he can learn from the OT loss to the Maple Leafs
"That's entertainment right there. I wasn't really happy when he did it, so it was nice to get a chance to score and do it back to him." - Kane on going back and forth with Auston Matthews on celebrations in the third period
"Tazer is a leader and he tells us young guys what to do and where to be at the right time. It helps us a lot. Today we had another good game, scored some goals and just too bad we couldn't win." - Dominik Kahun on learning from Jonathan Toews
WHAT'S NEXT:The Blackhawks head to Minnesota to take on the Wild this Thursday at 7 p.m. CT.