Head coach Ron Wilson talked extensively about the need for his Toronto Maple Leafs to play a strong first 10 minutes in Chicago on Friday night.

Goaltender Vesa Toskala, who was searching for his first win of the season, delivered. But equally struggling defenceman Luke Schenn did not.

Schenn had his pocket picked by Patrick Kane, who turned around and wristed a shot over Toskala's glove at 3:22 to highlight a two-goal first period by the Blackhawks, who held off a late charge to prevail 3-2.

"We let it unravel a little bit," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I don't know if we were letting up. They scored a goal late in the [second] period and that gave them some life. At 3-2 it's a ball game."

The Leafs, who fell behind 2-0 for the eighth time in 17 starts, cut a 3-1 deficit in half at 5:33 of the third period when Phil Kessel fired his second goal of the game but couldn't beat goalie Cristobal Huet for the equalizer.

Toskala turned in a 31-save performance in his first start since Oct. 31, denying Kane with 2:45 left in regulation to keep Toronto within a shot of tying the game. His record fell to 0-3-2.

"Vesa had an outstanding night," Wilson said. "There was nothing he could do on any of the goals. He made a dozen outstanding saves."

Toskala, who has lost playing time of late to rookie Jonas Gustavsson, stuck out his right pad to rob Jonathan Toews with 1:20 left in the second period to keep it a 3-1 game.

Toronto entered Friday's action with the league's second-most productive power play but failed two convert two chances in the final minutes against the best penalty-kill.

Chicago, meanwhile, went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage as Troy Brouwer made it 3-0 at 5:31 of the second period. With Alexei Ponikarovsky in the penalty box, he tipped a Patrick Sharp shot over Toskala's right shoulder for his fifth goal of the season and third on the power play.

The opposition has scored a power-play goal against Toronto in 12 of 17 games this season. The Maple Leafs began the night last in the 30-team league with a 71.6 per cent efficiency rating on the penalty-kill.

Home dominance

John Madden also scored for Chicago, which recorded its NHL-leading ninth win at home this season before a season-high crowd of 21,036 and leads the Central Division with a 11-5-2 record.

Kessel has goals in three consecutive games and four in five contests since returning from off-season shoulder surgery.

With Toronto down 3-0, he cut across the middle inside the Blackhawks blue-line and beat Huet to the far side. Kessel's third-period goal was very similar, only this time the former Boston Bruin snapped a shot to the short side under the crossbar.

The Maple Leafs appeared to have got on the board late in the first period as Huet stopped three close-in attempts by Niklas Hagman. But after a lengthy video review, officials determined there was no conclusive evidence to show the puck cross the goal line.

"I know they say inconclusive, but I don't know if it can get more conclusive than that from our point of view," Wilson said.

"At least it would have stemmed the bleeding in the first period and we could have come out of the period down 2-1. …The one we saw the puck was in, and the puck actually was behind the goal post in his glove. So generally you would have to assume if you don't see the puck and the glove is behind the goal post, then it's in the net."

Huet finished with 29 saves in Chicago's sixth straight home win. One of his best saves of the night came in the third period, when he thwarted Matt Stajan on a give-and-go from the faceoff circle with the Maple Leafs up a man.

"Huet made the saves when we needed him," said Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith, who had a goal and assist. "And for the most part we did a good job of keeping pressure on and not giving up too much."

Toronto, which fell to 3-9-5, dropped its second in a row after picking up at least one point in seven consecutive contests.

Gustavsson is expected to get the start Saturday when the Leafs host the 11-4-1 Calgary Flames at 7 p.m. ET (CBC, CBCSports.ca).

With files from The Associated Press