Patrick Kane scored twice, including 2:42 into overtime to help the Blackhawks escape with a 5-4 win over the Red Wings on Wednesday night in Detroit.
Kane’s two-goal night extended his point streak to 19 consecutive games to give him 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists) in his longest streak since his 26-game run during the 2015-16 season. Kane, however, saw his franchise-record 17-game assist streak end. He now has 350 regular-season goals and 50 playoff tallies.
The win momentarily lifted the Blackhawks into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
A saucy backhander opened the scoring at Little Caesars Arena, as Artem Anisimov slipped his 10th goal of the season past Jimmy Howard just 1:39 into the game. The tally was Chicago’s first opening goal since facing Boston last Tuesday.
Dylan Larkin squared the game 4:58 later, on a turnover from defenseman Gustav Forsling that was as stinky as an anchovie. Blackhawks goaltender Cam Ward made a great save on Larkin in the beginning of the rush, but could not stop him a second time.
Brandon Saad gave the Blackhawks the lead once again with a writster past Howard’s blocker at 12:04. A stretch pass from Dylan Sikura sausaged its way past the stick of Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall, giving Saad a great look for his 21st goal of the season.
Enter the second line, who has been one of the main reasons for Chicago’s climb into the playoff hunt.
With five minutes left in the first period, Alex DeBrincat snapped home a shot a crisp as fresh green pepper for a 3-1 lead. DeBrincat — who grew up a Red Wings fan in Farmington Hills, Michigan — now has seven goals in his last seven games, and 33 goals this season. Only Kane has more goals with 38.
Drake Caggiula left the game during the first intermission after receiving some friendly fire from Jonathan Toews. The captain inadvertently caught Caggiula in the eye, causing the young forward to leave the game. No word on whether or not this injury will sideline Caggiula any further.
Kane extended his point streak to 19 straight games with his 37th goal of the season just 1:17 seconds into the second period. Kane’s wicked wrister from the top of the right faceoff circle was assisted by Toews, and signaled the end for Howard. Howard’s four saves on eight performance was a little bit “crusty” to say the least. Enter, Jonathan Bernier.
The seemingly safe 4-1 Chicago lead was cooked early in the third period, as the Red Wings scored two goals in 64 seconds to slice the Blackhawks lead to one. Dylan Larkin scored his second goal on the night after he managed to sneak his way between three Chicago players, with former Blackhawk Trevor Daley assisting on the play. Andreas Athanasiou followed suit with a power-play goal to make it a 4-3 game on Erik Gustafsson’s delay of game penalty.
As the game slipped into it’s final two minutes of regulation, Detroit pressured its way into a long battle in the Chicago end. After the Red Wings pulled their goaltender, Athanasiou cashed in on a great pass from Anthony Mantha to tie the game with 1:26 left.
Overtime saw some crazy things happen. Defenseman Slater Koekkoek and Ward collided with each other (but were both OK), Mantha nearly won it on a one-on-one breakaway and Ward’s helmet fell off.
But as the extra session dipped under 3 minutes, it was a perfectly tossed play from Toews to Gustafsson to Kane for the game-winner.
Up next
Chicago hosts the Avalanche on Friday night at the United Center.
CHI Goals: Anisimov, Saad, DeBrincat, Kane (2)
DET Goals: Larkin (2), Athanasiou (2)
SCH’s 3 Stars of the Game
- Patrick Kane (CHI) – 2 goals, game winning goal
2. Anthony Mantha (DET) – 4 assists
3. Dylan Larkin (DET) – 2 goals, 1 assist
Clarification
An earlier version of this story misidentified Kane’s career goal total at 400. The NHL interprets a “career” total as only the regular season and separates it from a player’s playoff total. According to the league’s official stats, Kane has 350 career goals and 50 playoff goals. Second City Hockey regrets this error.