THREE THINGS: Opportunities, 'Til the End and Against the Wall

The Blackhawks are on the brink of elimination following a Game 3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night in Edmonton, 2-1.

Olli Maatta scored Chicago's lone goal in the third period of a comeback bid, but it was not enough to overcome a 2-0 deficit after two periods of play. Corey Crawford made 24 saves on the night, including a pair of highlight-reel stops in the middle frame.

The two teams will go toe-to-toe with the series on the line less than 20 hours after Saturday night's final whistle as Game 4 begins on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

Here are three takeaways from the Game 3 loss:

SEIZING OPPORTUNITY

For the second game in a row, Chicago played perhaps well enough to pull out a victory were it not for the advantageous Golden Knights capitalizing on the chances they did get, while the Blackhawks seemingly couldn't solve Marc-Andre Fleury, and when they did continued to find the iron of the Vegas cage.

CHI vs. VGK

GAME INFO

Video: CHI Recap: Maatta, Blackhawks fall in Game 3, 2-1

RELATED LINKS

Video: CHI Recap: Maatta, Blackhawks fall in Game 3, 2-1

Video: CHI Recap: Maatta, Blackhawks fall in Game 3, 2-1

On the game's opening goal, it was a brief mishap by Duncan Keith that Vegas pounced on and went the other way, leading to William Karlsson's shorthanded tally. On the second, a moment of hesitation in the neutral zone from Adam Boqvist led to a 3-on-1 rush that Patrick Brown finished for a 2-0 lead late in a strong second frame from Chicago.

"They make you pay when you're not as sharp as you hope to be," Colliton said. "They made mistakes too. They capitalized on two of theirs and we didn't. Obviously we want to be sharp all the time when we're one the ice, but it's a game of mistakes and part of it's forcing them to make more."

RIGHT 'TIL THE END

Down 2-0 in the third period, the Blackhawks seemed on the verge of a breakthrough on several occasions. It was perhaps when they didn't expect it that Olli Maatta's shot from distance on a rush sneaked through Fleury and finally got Chicago on the board.

"We were pushing," said the defenseman, who could be shrugging in almost disbelief that his shot went through as he celebrated with teammates. "We were down two goals and when you get one, you know you have a chance."

Chicago continued to push for the equalizer in the 13-plus minutes that followed, but couldn't find more than the one tally.

In all on the night, Alex DeBrincat led the team with eight shots on goal, along with four from Kirby Dach and three each from Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad. The offense had more than it's fair share of looks, but the final product just couldn't be bought.

"We did a lot of good things today and could've had way more goals than just one but it just didn't go in," Maatta said. "You can't get down on yourself. Tomorrow's a new day and it's a new day for us."

AGAINST THE WALL

That new day could be the last day. Down 3-0 in the series, it's do-or-die for the Blackhawks as Game 4 gets underway on Sunday evening. A win and they live to fight another day, a loss and the season is over.

"We're down three games, tomorrow's it. Must win to stay alive," Jonathan Toews said. "That's just the reality and that's the way we look at it. We did a lot of good things. We were working for the bounces, pucks were laying around, just didn't find the back of the net. Tomorrow we've just got to believe that we will."

All season long, the Blackhawks seem to find another level when their backs are against the wall, and Jeremy Colliton hopes that Saturday's final period is just the start of the fight his team has left to give heading into Game 4.

"We want to be that team who plays 'til the end, never quits," he said. "I think we showed character to come back but in the end it's a results thing and we've got to find a way to finish it. That'll be our focus going into tomorrow. Don't quit, be prepared to battle and put all we have into the game tomorrow and just win one."