BOSTON — The Chicago Blackhawks lost Jonathan Toews, their captain, to an injury in the second period on Thursday night.
But, once again, they didn’t lose the game.
With Toews, knocked from the game on a hard boarding hit by defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, in the locker room, the Hawks held on for their eighth straight win, a 3-2 decision over the Boston Bruins.
“He seemed alright. We’ll see how he is tomorrow but it looks like he’s going to be alright,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said after his team won for the 11th time in the last 12 games, won its fifth straight on the road and became the first team in the NHL to get to 20 wins.
“It’s upper body but I think he’s going to be alright.”
The Bruins had just killed off half of a two-man power play when Seidenberg, not known for dirty hits, hit Toews, who went hard into the boards. With the 5-on-3 restored, Toews tried to play but left soon after and didn’t return. It’s possible the league could take a look at the hit, but the call was for only a minor penalty.
And the Hawks, ahead 3-0 midway through the second period, held off the Boston charge to go to 20-8-1. They have outscored their opponents, 28-13, during the streak, with Scott Darling in goal for the last three wins as he and Antti Raanta have split the duties with Corey Crawford hurt.
The Blackhawks got major production from a pair of former Hockey East players while sending the Bruins (15-13-1) to their fourth loss in five games.
Former University of Maine goaltender Darling played a strong game in raising his NHL record to 5-1, while right winger Ben Smith, a Boston College product, had a goal and an assist. Both had family and friends at the game.
Asked about the hit on Toews, Darling said, “I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. I’m just happy he’s OK.”
After Toews was hit, Patrick Kane skated to Seidenberg but quickly realized the hit wasn’t intentional. After the game, Seidenberg was in the hallway outside the Chicago dressing room, waiting to talk to old friend Patrick Sharp. So, it was clear there was no bad blood.
“I’ve been saying that for a long time. We need to start educating our players to protect themselves better,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “We keep turning our backs; we keep trying to curl away. A player’s job is to finish his check. So a player should know he’s going to be hit and I think it’s not about tonight, it’s about the whole league.”
Darling, who made some outstanding saves when the game was 2-0, finished with 32 stops. He was beaten by right winger Reilly Smith (five points in three games) in the second period and then by defenseman Torey Krug with 7:48 left in the game — the latter goal set up by strong-arm work by left winger Milan Lucic, who played a forceful and effective game.
The Blackhawks’ fourth line produced the first two goals, with Smith setting up defenseman Klas Dahlbeck, playing in his third NHL game, for his first NHL goal and then scoring his third goal of the season. Kane made it 3-0 with his 13th of the season in the second period before Smith connected with 1:23 left before the second intermission.
“Finding ways to win is part of the process of being a good hockey team,” said Quenneville, whose team has won two of the last five Stanley Cups. “I thought tonight was probably a good illustration of finding a way to win.”
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask made 18 saves in the loss, which came on the night the Bruins got their captain and lead defenseman Zdeno Chara back after he missed 19 games with a knee injury.
“That’s his first game in two months, so good for him,” said Julien.
The Blackhawks, who were shut out in each of their previous two regular-season visits to TD Garden but also won the Stanley Cup on the same ice in 2013, jumped on top in the first period.