LDN - Sports

Kane sets up two late goals to lift Blackhawks

[December 11, 2017] CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane could not remember the last time he went four consecutive games without scoring a goal or tallying an assist.

The Chicago Blackhawks right winger was not about to let his points drought reach five games.

"Something's got to change," Kane said. "You've got to fix it yourself or change some things up."

On Sunday night, Kane took charge. He assisted on Artem Anisimov's go-ahead goal with 4:47 remaining in the third period, and he set up Nick Schmaltz's goal less than two minutes later to help Chicago earn a 3-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

Tommy Wingels also scored as the Blackhawks picked up their second victory in a row. Chicago (14-11-5) improved to 8-5-2 on home ice and beat Arizona for the eighth straight meeting.

Anthony Duclair scored the Coyotes' lone goal. Arizona (7-21-5) is winless in its past four games.

The game was scoreless after two periods and even at 1 before Chicago struck twice in the final five minutes.

"We've got to learn how to play under pressure," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "There's too many games with five minutes left that we've lost games. We have to correct that. I guess I've got to find a better way of coaching that last five minutes, I don't know. It's disheartening because it's happened too many times this year."

Anisimov scored the go-ahead goal on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. Kane carried the puck into the offensive zone and snapped a pass to Anisimov, who netted his team-leading 13th goal.

Schmaltz scored with 3:02 left to increase Chicago's lead to 3-1.

The two assists gave Kane 781 career points, pushing him into sole possession of fifth place on the Blackhawks' all-time scoring list. The only players ahead of the 29-year-old Kane are Stan Mikita (1,467 points), Bobby Hull (1,153), Denis Savard (1,096) and Steve Larmer (923).

"That's a pretty humbling group to be associated with," Kane said. "Those guys are great players. I've been fortunate to play with a lot of great players over the years here and have the trust of my coaches and management, as well. It's been a fun ride, but hopefully it doesn't stop here. Hopefully it continues."

Chicago opened the scoring with 12:24 to play in the third period. Right winger John Hayden slid a backhand pass to Wingels, who punched in a one-timer for his fourth goal of the season and his second in as many games.

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Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov (15) scores a goal against the Arizona Coyotes during the third period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona evened the score at 1 with 5:58 to go. Duclair crashed to the net and tapped in his seventh goal.

Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford made 31 saves to improve to 13-7-2 on the season. Arizona goaltender Scott Wedgewood dropped to 3-6-3 despite turning aside 34 shots.

"I thought we played great," Crawford said. "Obviously, there were no goals for most of it, but I thought we played well. We had a lot of chances throughout the game, and the third was our best period. It was another good win for us at home. Something to build off of and keep going with this."

The Blackhawks had a prime scoring opportunity midway through the first period when right winger Alex DeBrincat had a shot from point-blank range. Wedgewood recovered just in time to slide from left to right to make the save.

During a power play in the second period, Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski fired a slap shot from near the blue line. The puck clanked off the crossbar and away from Crawford to preserve the scoreless tie.

"I thought it was going in," Goligoski said. "It was looking good, just hit it about as square as you can hit it. We had our looks."

NOTES: Blackhawks D Jordan Oesterle returned to the ice after sitting out the previous 11 games as a healthy scratch. He played with Duncan Keith on Chicago's top defensive pairing. ... Coyotes G Antti Raanta received the night off after stopping 33 of 34 shots one day earlier against the Columbus Blue Jackets. ... Blackhawks RW Ryan Hartman was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. Hartman, 23, has four goals and 10 assists in 27 games. ... The Coyotes' healthy scratches were C Nick Cousins, D Kyle Capobianco and G Michael Leighton. ... Blackhawks D Cody Franson (upper-body injury) and D Michal Kempny did not play.

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