Eakin Helps Stars Beat Blackhawks, 6-3
CHICAGO (AP) — Cody Eakin, Erik Cole and Shawn Horcoff scored in the third period, leading the Dallas Stars to a 6-3 victory over the slumping Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Eakin also had a short-handed goal in the first as Dallas won for the third time in four games. The Stars also earned their first victory of the season against the Blackhawks after they dropped their first three meetings.
Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist for Dallas, which was coming off a 5-4 victory over Washington on Saturday night. Seguin is tied with Rangers star Rick Nash for the NHL lead with 28 goals.
Chicago dropped consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 1-2 against Toronto and Winnipeg. The Blackhawks are just 3-5 in January after they went 10-2-1 in December.
Brandon Saad scored two goals for Chicago, which had a 41-33 advantage in shots on goal. Saad has five goals and an assist in his last four games.
The Stars and Blackhawks were tied at 3 when Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya was sent off for tripping Seguin at 1:22 of the third. Eakin then capped a nifty passing sequence for Dallas with a tap-in goal on the power play.
Cole made it 5-3 when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Jason Spezza, and Horcoff added an empty-netter with a minute left. The six goals allowed were a season high for Chicago.
Vernon Fiddler also scored for Dallas, and Jamie Benn had three assists. Kari Lehtonen had 38 saves.
Patrick Kane scored his 21st goal for Chicago, and Corey Crawford finished with 28 stops.
The first two periods featured a little bit of everything, including a rare fight for Chicago's Patrick Sharp and Horcoff. The forwards dropped the gloves midway through the second after Horcoff had a big hit on Sharp near the boards.
The Stars jumped to a 2-0 lead on Eakin's short-handed goal on 10:49 of the first. Eakin and Jamie Benn had a 2-on-1 with only Duncan Keith back for the Blackhawks, and Benn made a great play to get a pass over to Eakin for his eighth goal.
The Blackhawks got on the board on Kane's rebound score at 12:22, and then turned a strange play by defenseman Jordie Benn into the tying score. Benn was sent off for interference after he skated up to Marian Hossa from behind and flipped the forward's stick out of his hands, all the way to the protective netting behind the Dallas net.
Saad scored on the resulting power play, tipping home a rebound after a long shot for Sharp. After Fiddler scored on his own rebound in the final minute of the first, Saad tied it again when he spun around and flung the puck past Lehtonen for his 15th goal at 7:13 of the second.
Chicago had a chance to go in front with 2:44 left in the period, but Lehtonen made a nice glove save at his left post on Hossa's backhand try.
NOTES: The Blackhawks scratched Daniel Carcillo, and the veteran forward is likely headed for a significant suspension after his illegal hit on Winnipeg's Mathieu Perreault in the second period of Friday night's 4-2 loss to the Jets. The NHL Department of Player Safety announced during Sunday's game that Carcillo is scheduled for a phone hearing on Monday. Joakim Nordstrom replaced Carcillo in the lineup. ... Stars D Trevor Daley missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. Dallas also scratched F Curtis McKenzie and D David Schlemko. ... D David Rundblad and F Kris Versteeg (left hand) were Chicago's other scratches. Rundblad's absence put Tim Erixon in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 29. ... The crowd of 22,135 was the 300th consecutive sellout for the Blackhawks, including the playoffs.
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