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 The Blackhawks rallied four different times to tie the game and
then ultimately bagging the game-winner on winger Patrick Sharp's
goal at 1:17 of overtime to complete an impressive comeback vs. the
Dallas Stars 5-4 at the United Center on Sunday.
"You always know you're going to get a big play out of someone on
this team," said Chicago center Brad Richards, whose third-period
goal sent the game into overtime. "We just kept relying on that and
kept clawing our way back."
It was the eighth goal of the season for Sharp. The left winger also
had an assist in the game.
Every time Dallas (18-14-6) took the lead, Chicago (26-11-2) bounced
back to tie, ultimately beating the Stars for the third straight
time this season.
"It's a tough way to lose," Dallas forward Jason Spezza said. "We
felt like we should've won this game. When you have the lead with a
little time left in the third, I think we expect to win."
The Blackhawks have now won 17 of their last 22 games, dating back
to Nov. 16 vs. Dallas.
Chicago also has outscored its opponents 79-48 in that 22-game
stretch.
Goalie Corey Crawford improved to 15-7-2 on the season, stopping 30
of Dallas' 34 shots for Chicago. Dallas counterpart Kari Lehtonen
(17-8-6) stopped 33 of Chicago's 38 shots.
The loss prevented Dallas from reaching a season-high five-game
winning streak. Even so, the Stars have still won eight of their
last 10 games and nine of their last 12.
"They're as dangerous as anybody off the rush and we tried to stress
that today," Quenneville said of Dallas. "At the end of the night,
we got a break there tying it up."
Dallas had taken a 4-3 lead on left winger Eric Cole's second goal
of the night at 4:05 of the third period.
But nearly 12 minutes later, Richards' eighth goal of the season
tied the game at 4, sending it into overtime and setting the stage
for Sharp's heroics.
"That was a tough goal that beat us," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.
"We had a couple of good opportunities to get that extra marker and
didn't finish.
"We've had some goals like that goal for us in this stretch and one
went in against us. You look at the end of the night, it's a
hard-fought point in a back-to-back game that might've been our best
back-to-back so far (this season)."
Dallas had outscored its last two opponents 13-1 -- Saturday night's
7-1 win at home against Minnesota and a 6-0 shutout against Arizona
on New Year's Eve.
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The Stars didn't waste much time in getting on the scoreboard in
Sunday's game. Left winger and captain Jamie Benn tallied his 12th
goal of the season on a wrist shot past Crawford just 3:59 into the
first period.
Center Tyler Seguin, who dominated the Stars' scoring this season,
picked up the assist to give him 26 goals and 21 assists this
season.
But Chicago would not remain scoreless for long, as left winger
Brandon Saad found the net past Lehtonen at 5:14 of the first period
for his 10th goal of the season.
Both teams traded a pair of goals in the second period to make it a
3-3 tie heading into the third period.
Stars defenseman Jordie Benn scored his first goal of the season at
2:15 of the second period, only to be answered by Chicago right
winger Patrick Kane's team-leading 19th goal of the season at 3:58.
Dallas took the lead back less than a minute later at 4:43 on Cole's
eighth goal of the season.
But Chicago answered back late in the period at 18:05 on left winger
Bryan Bickell's tip-in of a Richards slapshot. It was Bickell's
sixth of the season, coming on the power play.
NOTES: Fans have voted Blackhawks players into five of the top six
roster spots for the upcoming NHL All-Star Game. The five Chicago
players, in order of most votes, are RW Patrick Kane, C Jonathan
Toews, D Duncan Keith, D Brent Seabrook and G Corey Crawford. ... C
Teuvo Teravainen, who was recalled Friday from Rockford (Ill.) of
the AHL, played his first game for Chicago this season, and only the
fourth of his NHL career. Teravainen will at least temporarily
replace LW Kris Versteeg, Chicago's third-leading scorer, who is
expected to miss the next month with a left hand injury. ... D David
Schlemko, claimed off waivers from Arizona on Saturday, was a late
scratch for the Stars just before the game. ... Attendance was
21,884.
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