Jonathan Toews scored 3:29 into overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at Pepsi Center.
It was Toews’ league-leading fourth goal in the new 3-on-3 format.
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists, while Artemi Panarin had two assists in the win. Artem Anisimov and Andrew Desjardins also scored for Chicago (22-13-4), who have won back-to-back games to close out the 2015 calendar year.
The Hawks held a two-goal advantage in the second, but Cody McLeod scored before the third and Erik Johnson sent it to overtime 10 seconds after the Hawks killed off a penalty with five minutes remaining.
It was a wild overtime session with Panarin getting stopped by Semyon Varlamov, who had won his previous eight games against Chicago. A too many men penalty gave the Hawks the extra attacker before Toews’ snapped a four-game losing streak in the season series against Colorado.
Desjardins tapped in his goal from a beautiful feed from Teuvo Teravainen for his third goal in two games just two minutes into the second period. Rookie Phillip Danault also recorded an assist on the goal.
Kane scored his 12th power play goal of the season off a feed from Panarin and Keith to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead at 4:20 in the second period. Kane is tied with Carolina’s Justin Faulk for the league-lead in power play goals.
Carl Soderberg opened the scoring just four minutes with a shot past Scott Darling, who made a rare start as Corey Crawford rested on the bench on his 31st birthday. Darling stopped 27 shots for his first win since Nov. 15.
Anisimov tied the game 1-1 with his 100th career NHL goal. The Russian has scored 14 goals this season.
The Hawks start 2016 with back-to-back wins in hand when they return to Chicago to face the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
What a way to end the year.
The last goal from the @NHLBlackhawks in 2015 was a game-winner from Toews. It was glorious. pic.twitter.com/tl0kAjMFJC
— Comcast SportsNet (@CSNChicago) January 1, 2016