Arvid Soderblom Deserved Better in Blackhawks' Loss to Sabres

It had been an anticipatory week for Arvid Soderblom. The Chicago Blackhawks recalled the 23-year-old goaltender from the Rockford IceHogs on Oct. 21 after Petr Mrazek went down with an injury. And while the Blackhawks had a busy three-game week, Soderblom spent all of it watching from the bench.

Chicago elected to "ride the hot hand" with Alex Stalock as the primary option in net. Stalock went 2-1 over that stretch, but with back-to-back games this weekend, Soderblom finally got his shot Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Arvid Soderblom Shows Out in Blackhawks Season Debut

Despite the long layoff, rust or nerves didn't affect Arvid Soderblom as he put together an outstanding performance against the Sabres. In just his fourth NHL game, Soderblom stopped 41 of 45 shots for a save percentage of .911.

While the Chicago Blackhawks mounted a 3-1 lead in the second period, which they eventually squandered, they didn't do Soderblom any favors defensively. Chicago allowed season-highs of 78 shot attempts, 44 scoring chances, and 22 high-danger chances. As a result, Soderblom was under duress all night.

And of the four goals Soderblom allowed, two of them came on Sabres' power plays. The fourth and decisive goal was especially unfortunate, as Jonathan Toews had taken a holding penalty with 1:07 remaining in the third period.

Buffalo's power play carried over into extra time, and it only took Victor Olofsson 36 seconds to blast home a game-winning one-timer past the Blackhawks' 3-on-4 penalty kill.

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