Blackhawks Surge Past Stars, 6-2
CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg each had a goal and two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks rallied with four goals in the third period to defeat the Dallas Stars 6-2 on Sunday night.
Kane connected from a sharp angle early in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie. Jonathan Toews, Versteeg, and Brandon Saad scored in a 2:55 span later in the period to put the game away.
Defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook scored in the first period as Chicago won for the third time in four games.
Dallas' Curtis McKenzie recorded his first NHL goal and Shawn Horcoff also scored for the Stars, who have dropped two straight and won just two of their last 11 (2-7-2).
Chicago's Corey Crawford made 22 saves and Dallas' Kari Lehtonen finished with 41 as Chicago fired 23 shots in the third.
Blackhawks center Brad Richards had two assists in his 1,000th game and was honored in a pre-game ceremony. The 34-year-old played 220 of those games with the Stars from 2008 to 2011 at the peak of his career.
The Blackhawks are Richards' fourth team in a 15-year career. He signed a one-year, $2 million free-agent deal with Chicago last July and was envisioned as a No. 2 center, but has start slowly and averaged just under 13 minutes of ice time entering Sunday's game.
The Blackhawks start a six-game road trip on Thursday in Calgary and don't play again at the United Center until Dec. 3.
The game was tied 2-2 following a wide-open first period.
Keith opened the scoring on the Blackhawks' first shot when he completed a 2-on-1 break with Patrick Kane at 1:18 into the game.
McKenzie and Horcoff then connected 39 seconds apart to put Dallas ahead 2-1.
McKenzie's goal at 4:49 was a perfect tip-in from the left side of the net, and set up by Erik Cole's pinpoint cross-ice pass through Seabrook's legs. Horcoff was wide open on the left side when he fired in a rebound of Vernon Fiddler's shot from the right circle.
Seabrook tied it 2-2 during a power play with 8:02 left in the period when his drive from the blue line deflected off Dallas' Jamie Benn.
The pace slowed in the scoreless second period.
Kane swept in a rising shot from the low edge of the right circle at 4:49 of the third to put Chicago ahead 3-2. He beat Lehtonen through a narrow space on the short side
Toews made it 4-2 when he wrapped in a rebound of Marian Hossa's shot with 7:26 left. Versteeg built the lead to 5-2 on a 20-foot one-timer for the slot 1:45 later.
Saad capped the rally by completing a 2-on-1 break with Toews with 4:31 to play.
NOTES: Blackhawks rookie D Trevor van Riemsdyk left the game in the first period with a leg injury. . Chicago F Daniel Carcillo returned after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. . Dallas F Jamie Benn has gone 11 games without a goal after scoring five in the first seven. . F Travis Moen played his first game with the Stars after being acquired from Montreal last week. .. Blackhawks rookie G Scott Darling was recalled from Rockford of the AHL and backed up Crawford. G Antti Raanta, who has appeared in just three games, was sent to Rockford for playing time. Coach Joel Quenneville said Raanta would rejoin the Blackhawks by Thursday in Calgary. . Long-time Blackhawks TV play-by-play announcer Pat Foley will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
