The Blackhawks scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago.
Patrick Kane felt the love on the night with a goal and two assists for his 79th three-point game of his NHL career. Kane’s 16-game point streak (12 goals, 23 assists) is the longest active run in the league. He also surpasses the late Stan Mikita’s 14-game assist streak for the longest in franchise history.
Artem Anisimov and Brandon Saad both had a goal and assist. Drake Caggiula and Jonathan Toews each scored a goal. Cam Ward made 41 saves to pull Chicago within two points of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver is tied with Minnesota at 59 points, while Colorado and Chicago both have 57.
Damon Severson and Travis Zajac scored for the Devils. Cory Schneider made 31 stops and is 0-17-4 since Dec. 27, 2017.
Brett Seney picked up a turnover from Erik Gustafsson then sent a feed to Severson — who was left open as John Hayden was searching for a Valentine’s Day card like Ralph Wiggum from “The Simpsons” — and buried a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle to give the Devils a 1-0 lead at 7:14.
The Devils doubled the lead with a tic-tac-toe passing sequence on a Brent Seabrook cross-checking penalty. Marcus Johansson stood at the goal line waiting for his date to the Yule Ball before sending a pass to Zajac between the circles to make it 2-0.
Kane then reached into his quiver like Cupid and nocked three arrows for as many points.
As Dylan Sikura was falling to the ice he slipped a pass to Kane, who jumped into the action during a delayed penalty and fired a wrist shot from the high slot to extend his point streak at 18:17.
Caggiula ripped a shot from the right faceoff circle to tie it 2-2 just 20 seconds into the second period, with Kane collecting an assist for a franchise-record 15th straight game.
Marcus Kruger, of all players, almost made it 3-1 during a flurry at the goalmouth but Schneider was able to cover the puck up before it at the chance to cross the line.
Kane grabbed some loose Sweethearts candy in his own end then raced down to the offensive zone, where he spun away from a defender and sent a drop pass to Slater Koekkoek. The defenseman choo-choo-choosed to send a cross-ice pass to Jonathan Toews for a one-timer from the right circle at 13:12 of the second.
Ward’s mask fell off twice in the third period during a Connor Murphy hooking penalty. The first time it looked like the puck hit Ward’s mask and caused a strap to come loose and the second time he did his best Taylor Swift impression and was able to shake it off to stop the play. The Blackhawks killed off the penalty and went 2 for 3 on the penalty kill on the night.
Anisimov cleaned up a rebound in front to make it 4-2 at 13:36 then Saad tallied a short-handed goal less than two minutes later. Saad recorded his 300th NHL point with an assist on Anisimov’s tally.
The Blackhawks honored forward Chris Kunitz prior to the game with a ceremony for his 1,000th NHL game.
Up next
Chicago continues its three-game homestand Saturday when they host Columbus.
3 Starz
- Patrick Kane (CHI) — 1 goal, 2 assists
- Cam Ward (CHI) — 41 saves
- Brandon Saad (CHI) — 1 SHG, 1 assist