Late Spurt Puts Blackhawks Over Stars 5-2
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago's Andrew Shaw, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Marian Hossa scored in the third period after Dallas rallied to tie it, and the Blackhawks went on to beat the Stars 5-2 on Monday night for their sixth straight win.
Jonathan Toews netted his team-leading 21st goal, and Viktor Stalberg also scored for NHL-leading Chicago, which has points in nine consecutive games (8-0-1). Ray Emery made 16 saves and improved to 16-1.
Jamie Benn scored both goals for the Stars, whose five-game winning streak ended. They got even after falling behind 2-0. Richard Bachman made 23 saves in his third straight start in place of No. 1 goalie Kari Lehtonen, who is out because of a lower body injury.
Bachman has been in goal since relieving Lehtonen in the first period of the Stars' 5-1 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The Stars remained in ninth place in the Western Conference, two points below the postseason cutoff with six games remaining.
Dallas rookie Alex Chiasson left the game with an upper body injury in the first period after playing six shifts. Chiasson had six goals and an assist in his first six NHL games after being called up from Texas of the AHL earlier this month.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp, the team's leading goal scorer last season with 33, missed his second straight game and 16th of the past 18 because of an upper body injury.
Toews scored the only goal of the first period on a tip-in with 7:06 left to cap a cross-ice passing play with Hossa and Brandon Saad.
Saad fed the puck from the left wing to Hossa in the right circle. Hossa whipped the puck to Toews, who had slipped into the crease behind defenseman Stephane Robidas.
Stalberg used a burst of speed to give Chicago a 2-0 lead with 7:46 left in the second.
Benn cut it to 2-1 just under two minutes later, capping a 3-on-1 break that resulted from a rare Chicago turnover.
After Patrick Kane couldn't handle the puck just inside the Chicago blue line, Benn, Ray Whitney and Loui Eriksson raced down the ice against Hjalmarsson. Benn fired a shot between Emery's pads from the low edge of the right circle after a quick give-and-go with Whitney.
Benn tied it at 2 with his 10th goal at 3:07 of the third. His shot from the high edge of the right circle was screened by Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith and sailed past Emery's glove.
Shaw's goal, also on screened shot, put Chicago back in front 3-2 just 1:24 later. Shaw ripped a shot past Bachman from the right circle with Chicago's Bryan Bickell and Dallas' Trevor Daley tied up in front of the crease.
Hjalmarsson scored at 7:46 of the third to give Chicago a 4-2 lead, snapping a 27-game streak without a goal.
Hossa's empty-net goal with 27 seconds left completed the scoring
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Also Check Out:
- Kaufman County DA Mike McLelland And Wife Found Dead
- Victoria's Secret's New Lingerie Line Has Parents Outraged
- Homeowner Says 911 Hung Up On Them
- I-Team Investigates Identity Theft Targets In Texas
- Troopers Indicted After Roadside Cavity Search Of Two Women
MOST VIEWED GALLERIES
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures
- PHOTOS: Dallas St. Patrick's Day Parade
- PHOTOS: Pope Francis I
