THREE THINGS: Back-and-Forth, Line Shuffle and Moving on Up

It was a stronger all-around performance from the Blackhawks in Game 2 of their First Round matchup against the Golden Knights, but in the end Vegas took a 4-3 overtime victory to open a 2-0 series lead.

"It's tough to swallow this one right now," said forward Kirby Dach, who scored his first NHL playoff goal in the loss. "Obviously we had chances in overtime to put the game away, but that's not the way it went. We've got to regroup fast here because these next two games are coming up quick."

Here are three takeaways from the OT loss on Thursday night:

CHI vs. VGK

GAME INFO

Video: CHI Recap: Blackhawks fall in overtime, 4-3

RELATED LINKS

Video: CHI Recap: Blackhawks fall in overtime, 4-3

Video: CHI Recap: Blackhawks fall in overtime, 4-3

BACK-AND-FORTH

In the opening 10 minutes of Game 2, the Blackhawks were creating opportunities and had a different spark than they did on Tuesday night in Game 1. By the end of the opening frame, though, Vegas had jumped out to a 2-0 advantage.

It was a three-goal second period -- with goals from Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome -- that vaulted the team back into the game. The Golden Knights dominated the third period, leading in shots 16-6 as Corey Crawford stood on his head late to keep his team in it, setting up the first overtime action of the postseason for Chicago.

"I thought we showed a lot of character to battle back a couple different times," Colliton said of his team's resiliency, tying the game at both 2-2 and 3-3 in the second.

In the end, Vegas took advantage of the long-change overtime period, pinning the Blackhawks deep in their end for an extended period of time before Reilly Smith struck for his third goal in the series for the game-winner at the 7:13 mark, giving Vegas the 2-0 series advantage despite a stronger second showing from Chicago.

"Right now, it's tough to be positive, but pretty sure that we had some positive things in that game," Kubalik said. "We came back from 2-0 -- that's one of the bigger things -- and we did a better job handling their forecheck. We've just got to stick with it and we're really excited for next game."

"Disappointing because I thought the guys played hard," Colliton added. "At the same time, we need to keep getting better, keep improving. We're not out of it. We're going to regroup and come back raring to go for Game 3."

LINE SHUFFLE

Chicago made the biggest adjustments to date in it's lineup coming into Game 2, especially offensively with Colliton mixing up his bottom three lines.

Drake Caggiula took Alex DeBrincat's spot on the second trio, with the latter joining Strome and Matthew Highmore on the third line. Alex Nylander slid into Highmore's previous spot on the fourth line alongside David Kampf and Ryan Carpenter.

"Up front, just trying to manufacture a little more offense," Colliton said of the shuffle. "I thought we had a little bit of success there. We weren't unhappy with how we played in Game 1. I thought we were good for a lot of the game and the same thing tonight. We've got to find a way to sustain it for the full 60 because they're a really good team and they make you work every time you're out there."

The shuffle had some success as the new second line found the team's first goal in the opening minutes of the second period. Colliton tried to further spark his team late in the middle frame, reuniting the line of DeBrincat, Strome and Kane that saw success in training camp, and the impact was immediate with the game-tying goal just before the buzzer.

I thought they were good," Kane said of the line changes. "Always fun getting to play with Stromer and Brinks. I think we've got some good chemistry and we can make some plays out there. It was nice to capitalize on the shift we got there in the second.

"I think Caggiula brings a lot of energy. He's a guy that might not put up some big numbers, but you look at that first goal, he could be the main reason we scored because he middle-lane drives, goes to the net, creates some havoc and then a couple guys are on him and Kirby's wide open backdoor. He's a fun guy to play with as well because he creates space, he's good on the forecheck, he's not afraid to finish his checks for a smaller guy. I thought for the most part (the changes) worked to our advantage tonight."

On the back end, Colliton sat rookie Adam Boqvist and gave Lucas Carlsson his first NHL playoff experience. Carlsson appeared in six NHL games towards the end of the regular season and played exclusively with Connor Murphy throughout, a pairing that was reunited on Thursday with Calvin de Haan moving up alongside Duncan Keith in Boqvist's absence.

"We're trying to get better, trying to use the group that we have," Colliton explained. "We've got a lot of confidence in Carlsson. I think he played really well in the time he got in the regular season. He's been outside looking in here and we're hoping 'Boqy' with a day of rest can come back potentially with another level for us."

MOVIN' ON UP

With a three-assist night -- one on all three Blackhawks goals -- Kane surpassed Hall of Famer Bobby Hull for sole possession of third place all-time in Chicago postseason scoring with 130 points. The future Hall of Famer now trails just Stan Mikita (150) and Denis Savard (145) in franchise history.

"I've been fortunate to play on some amazing teams," Kane reflected after the game. "When you have some deep runs in the playoffs, you're going to have the chance to put up numbers and points when you're an offensive guy."

It was the seventh time that Kane has posted a three-point playoff night, one shy of his personal mark. The winger nearly doubled his offensive contribution in the first five games of this postseason, but hopes his team has many more in their sights this year.

"Appreciate those teams I've been on. Trying to do the same thing here with this team," he said. "I think we've got a good group. I think we've proved it all year when we've been in tough situations, faced some adversity, that we're able to come back and we're able to work our way out of it. This is a team that isn't going give up."