|
 Kane waited. He waited some more.
"It shows how much patience he has," said Blackhawks center Brad
Richards, who fed Kane the pass near the side of the net. "Because I
thought he waited too long."
Kane's timing was perfect. He lifted a wrist shot past Stars
goaltender Kari Lehtonen for the go-ahead goal in a 6-2 win on
Sunday night.
The Blackhawks (10-7-1) outshot Dallas by a margin of 47-24 and
scored four goals in the third period to improve to 7-3-1 at home.
The Stars (6-8-4) lost their second consecutive game and fell to
2-7-2 since Oct. 25. Dallas has dropped four games in a row against
the Blackhawks.
"We're just finding ways to give these games away," Stars center
Vernon Fiddler said. "You look at a team like Chicago, they find a
way, they find some life, they create some momentum in our end and
get us running around a little bit.
 "That's a good hockey team over there. That's the thing we have to
find a way to do."
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 22 of 24 shots to
improve to 7-4-1.
Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen turned aside 41 of 47 shots in the
loss. After he gave up a goal to Kane with 15:11 remaining in the
third period, the Blackhawks scored on three of their next 10 shots.
"We need to use this momentum as much as we can and not let it go,"
center Jonathan Toews said.
The Blackhawks received timely production from some of their best
players, namely Kane. His sharp-angle shot above Lehtonen's left
shoulder provided a spark to the Blackhawks after a quiet second
period in which neither team scored.
Kane said he knew exactly where to place the puck for his sixth goal
of the season.
"I just had to settle the puck down a little bit," Kane said. "He
slides over, so you're just trying to get it upstairs to a point
where he can't stop it."
Toews scored on a wraparound goal with 7:26 remaining to increase
the Blackhawks' lead to 4-2, and left winger Kris Versteeg ripped a
one-timer past Lehtonen with 5:41 remaining to make it 5-2. Less
than a minute later, left winger Brandon Saad scored his third goal
of the season to increase the lead to 6-2.
[to top of second column] |
Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said he needed to see more from his top six
forwards. The Stars' line of left winger Jamie Benn, center Tyler
Seguin and right winger Ales Hemsky was held off of the scoresheet
and combined for a minus-6 plus-minus rating against the Blackhawks.
"I look at the top half of our lineup," Ruff said. "Unless we get
production, it's going to be tough to win. I thought the bottom half
tonight got us on the board. We had some good chances, but we can
either talk about those or put them in the back of the net."
Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith opened the scoring 1:18 into the
first period on a one-timer past Lehtonen's outstretched left leg.
Kane carried the puck toward the net and slipped a pass across the
ice to Keith for his fourth goal of the season.
The Stars responded with two goals in a 39-second span to grab a 2-1
lead. Left winger Curtis McKenzie scored his first NHL goal when he
chipped a puck past Crawford with 15:11 remaining in the first
period. Center Shawn Horcoff put Dallas on top when he punched in a
loose puck with 14:32 to go in the first period.
The Blackhawks evened the score at 2 on a power-play goal by
defenseman Brent Seabrook with 8:02 remaining in the first period.
Seabrook's shot from the blue line deflected off of Benn's stick.
NOTES: Blackhawks C Brad Richards appeared in his 1,000th NHL game.
Richards' 14-year career also included stints with the Tampa Bay
Lightning, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers. ... Stars LW Travis
Moen made his team debut five days after he was acquired from the
Montreal Canadiens in exchange for D Sergei Gonchar. ... Blackhawks
C Joakim Nordstrom made his season debut after being recalled from
the AHL's Rockford IceHogs on Saturday. Nordstrom, 22, appeared in
16 games with the Blackhawks last season. ... Stars RW Patrick Eaves
missed his second consecutive game because of a lower-body injury.
... Blackhawks RW Jeremy Morin was a healthy scratch for the first
time in the past 11 games.
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