Slumping Blackhawks Fall To Anaheim 3-1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (CBS) -- The slumping Blackhawks fell to the surging Anaheim Ducks Sunday night, in their fourth game without the injured Jonathan Toews.
Patrick Kane ended the Blackhawks' monthlong 0-for-39 power-play drought with a first-period goal, and Ray Emery stopped 35 shots against his former Anaheim teammates in the Hawks' third consecutive loss.
The Blackhawks have lost 12 of 16 overall, yet still sit comfortably in sixth place in the West, nine points ahead of Anaheim.
"It seems like sometimes when we get the lead, we're kind of satisfied with that," said Kane, who scored the Blackhawks' first power-play goal since Jan. 24. "But we definitely have to keep the pressure on and try to extend the lead. After the first, they pretty much dominated us in the second and third and got a lot more shots than we did."
The Blackhawks played their fourth straight game without Toews, who is home in Chicago with an apparent concussion. Coach Joel Quenneville hopes Toews and defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson will return Wednesday against Toronto, but the Blackhawks struggled through a two-game Southern California road trip, losing 4-0 up the I-5 freeway in Los Angeles one night earlier.
"Offensively, we're not doing much right now," Kane said. "We need some contributions from everyone. You can always say you need your best players to be your best players. That's something that we need to get better at, too, including myself."
Cogliano tied it with 20 seconds left in the period, but only after the referees immediately waved off his goal. Cogliano clearly kicked the puck toward the net with his right skate, but a lengthy video review at the league offices in Toronto revealed Cogliano poked the puck through Emery's legs with his stick after Emery stopped the kick with his pads.
"I thought he kicked it and then maybe got a piece of it, or just kicked it straight in," said Emery, who backstopped Anaheim into the playoffs late last season. "Either way, it shouldn't count. I know they took a tougher look at it, and they must have had some evidence to the contrary. But you've got to work past those things."
A power-play goal and assist by the Ducks' Teemu Selanne brought Anaheim the victory. He set up Sheldon Brookbank's goal in the second period before scoring his 21st of the season from a sharp angle during a two-man advantage in the third. The 41-year-old Finnish Flash caught and passed Luc Robitaille with 1,395 points, and his 246th career power-play goal put him one behind Robitaille for fourth in league history.
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