The opponent was not as formidable but the results remained the same: Chicago lost its third straight game to open the 2021 season on Sunday night, a 5-2 loss to the Panthers in Florida.
A scoreless first period was followed up by a quick start to the second for the home team, with Aaron Ekblad’s point shot taking a few deflections before finding its way in to the Blackhawks net, just 12 seconds into the period. Keith Yandle doubled that advantage five minutes later with Chicago goalie Collin Delia out of position:
The Blackhawks got on the board later in the second with a power play tally from Alex DeBrincat:
The second period ended that way, with Florida ahead 2-1.