Patrick Kane’s point streak snapped, Blackhawks fall 4-3 to Stars

Patrick Kane’s point streak ended at 20 games in the Blackhawks’ 4-3 loss to the Stars on Sunday afternoon at the United Center in Chicago.

Newly-acquired Dallas winger Mats Zuccarello tallied a goal and an assist for his new team before leaving the game with a lower-body injury that will sideline him at least four weeks. Stars captain Jamie Benn saw just 1:19 of ice time before also going down to injury in the first period. Anton Khudobin played excellent, stopping 44 of 47 shots.

Chicago failed to pick up a point during the weekend, falling four points behind the second wild-card team in the Western Conference — the Avalanche at 65 points. The Blackhawks don’t play again until Wednesday, while the three teams that sit above them in the standings — Minnesota, Arizona and Colorado — play at least one game in that stretch.

How it Happened

Pressure by the Blackhawks kept the Stars at bay early on, but Radek Faksa got the visitors on the board first, making it 1-0 just over halfway through the period. Alexander Radulov doubled the lead at 17:28 of the first on a backhand shot.

Zuccarello made it 3-0 for his second point of the game when he snapped home a pass across the slot from Tyler Seguin just 1:44 into the second.

The rest of the period belonged to the Blackhawks, with Chris Kunitz scoring his second goal of the season and Drake Caggiula’s goal counting after a video review determined his shot from the right of the crease crossed the goal line.

Jonathan Toews extended his point streak to six games with his 29th goal of the season that went bar down on a power play at 4:16 in the third to tie it 3-3. The goal ties Toews’ career high goal total from the 2011-12 season.

With Toews’ power-play goal, the Blackhawks have scored on 15 of 39 opportunities since Jan. 20, which is good for 38.5-percent conversion rate.

After a too many men penalty on Chicago, Duncan Keith’s leg and skate got caught in the wheels of a Stars’ player at the defensive zone blue line. The Stars were handed a 5-on-3 opportunity midway through the third period.

The Blackhawks failed to clear the puck, which allowed Jason Spezza to sneak backdoor and receive a pass through a falling Slater Koekkoek from Radulov. Spezza tapped it in to put the Stars up 4-3.

Despite the almost six minutes of power play time that followed, the Blackhawks couldn’t find the back of the net. Chicago and Dallas are tied 1-1 in the season series, with two more meetings this season: March 9 in Dallas and April 5 in Chicago.

Up Next

The Blackhawks begin their West Coast road trip Wednesday night in Anaheim.

Three Stars

1. Anton Khudobin (DAL) — 44 saves
2. Jonathan Toews (CHI) — Game-tying PP goal
3. Mats Zuccarello (DAL) — 1 goal, 1 assist