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 Despite coughing up an early 2-0 lead and trailing 3-2 after 40
minutes, Chicago charged back Friday night at the United Center to
beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on two goals in the final period.
Captain Jonathan Toews tied it on a power play at 4:18 and Brandon
Saad won it with 27 seconds left in regulation, scoring his fifth
goal of the season and second game-winner. Seconds before he scored,
Chicago goalie Antti Raanta (38 saves) made a critical stop against
a shot by Dale Weise to keep it tied at 3.
"We have played great third periods and the whole team's confidence
is higher when you know that you play good in the last 20 minutes,"
said Raanta, who earned his second win in as many starts filling in
for injured starter Corey Crawford. "Now we got the late goal, so
it's even better for us, but we have done a really good job in the
last (10 games) with playing the whole 60 minutes."
 This time, however, there was a letdown in the second period --
something that's plagued the Blackhawks much of the season. The
goals by Toews and Saad covered up it, pushing Chicago's advantage
in third-period goals to 31-12 this season.
"The power play scored a very timely goal for us," Blackhawks coach
Joel Quenneville said of Toews' tally. "(We) needed that one. Both
teams had some pretty dangerous looks there in the 3-3 game. We
started with the power play and then got a little bit of momentum
off it to start the period. Scoring on that put us in the right
spot."
Defenseman Michal Rozsival and forward Ben Smith scored the other
goals for Chicago (17-8-1), which won its fifth straight game and
eighth in its past nine. Winger Brendan Gallagher, and defensemen
Sergei Gonchar and P.K. Subban scored for Montreal (17-9-2), which
lost its second straight game and fell to 1-4-1 in the past six.
The Blackhawks, who moved into second place in the Central Division,
will play Saturday at the Nashville Predators to start a four-game
road trip. The Canadiens conclude their three-game trip Saturday at
the Dallas Stars.
"We've all dealt with it before," Gallagher said of losing close
games. "It's part of the business. It's part of being a
professional. Obviously, no one's happy with this result. When you
play that hard and compete, to come out on the losing end ... it's
not a good feeling. At the same time, you've got to understand the
feeling that we have. We don't want to feel that again."
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It didn't take long for the Blackhawks to pick up where they off
Nov. 4, when they beat the Canadiens 5-0 at the Bell Centre in
Montreal. Rozsival made it 1-0 at 2:13 of the opening period with
his first goal of the season. A couple more scoring chances nearly
wound up in the Canadiens' net before Smith and Gallagher finished
the first with back-to-back goals scored 26 seconds apart.
Gonchar tied it at 2 at 7:58 of the second by firing a shot just
over Raanta's pad into the far side of the net -- his first goal
since Jan. 25, when he was still with the Dallas Stars. Subban then
gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead with his seventh goal, which he scored
at 17:22 of the second to cap a power play. It was the first
power-play goal allowed by Chicago since Nov. 20 in Calgary, a span
of seven games and 23 successful penalty kills.
"We competed hard tonight," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said.
"We know that we were against a really good challenge tonight and I
thought we reacted the right way.
NOTES: Blackhawks rookie D Klas Dahlbeck was a healthy scratch.
Dahlbeck might make his NHL debut Saturday at the Nashville
Predators. ... Chicago F Jeremy Morin was a healthy scratch for the
seventh straight game. He has only played once in the past eight
games and coach Joel Quenneville said Friday that Morin might get
sent to Rockford for more playing time. ... Quenneville hasn't said
who will start in goal Saturday. ... Montreal coach Michel Therrien
kept the line changes he made in the third period of a 2-1 loss
Thursday at the Minnesota Wild. F Dale Weise stayed at right wing on
the top line in place of PA Parenteau, who was moved to right wing
on the third line. ... Canadiens D Mike Weaver re-entered the lineup
in place of Bryan Allen, who'd played five of the previous six games
after a trade that sent him to Montreal from the Anaheim Ducks. ...
D Michael Bournival (shoulder) began a conditioning stint with the
Hamilton Bulldogs.
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