DeBrincat helps Blackhawks beat Stars 2-1
DALLAS (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks made the most of a couple of odd-man rushes and another solid performance for Corey Crawford.
Alex DeBrincat and David Kampf scored in the first period, and the Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Saturday night.
Crawford helped Chicago shut out Dallas for the last 53:37 in the team's second straight win. Crawford made 26 saves in his third victory in four games since recovering from a concussion.
"Right from the first faceoff it was intense," Crawford said. "All our guys were into the game. Guys were making great plays. Smart plays.
"We blocked a lot of shots."
Connor Murphy had a game-high seven of Chicago's 21 blocked shots. Dallas finished with 28 blocks, including five by Roope Hintz.
Murphy also started the play that ended with the Blackhawks' tiebreaking goal in the first. He dived to bat the puck out to Patrick Kane, who skated through the neutral zone and passed to DeBrincat behind the Dallas defense. He had an easy wrist shot from the slot 36 seconds before the period ended.
"I saw Murphy block the shot," said DeBrincat, who has 37 goals this season after he finished with 28 last year. "I think their defense went low, so he chipped it up to Kane and I just kind of took off. Kane made a good play to get me in behind the defense and I just tried to come across and go back far side."
Alexander Radulov scored for Dallas, and Anton Khudobin made 37 saves.
Dallas maintained its lead for the first wild card in the Western Conference, but slipped to four points behind third-place St. Louis in the Central Division. The Stars had won four in a row.
Chicago jumped in front when Kampf and Chris Kunitz combined on a textbook 2-on-1. Kampf skated down the right side, passed across to Kunitz, received a return pass and beat Khudobin 5:10 into the first period.
"Our defensemen were at the top of the circles and our forwards were not coming back hard so that doesn't allow us to stop and go back at pucks," Dallas coach Jim Montgomery. "That led to a lot of odd-man rushes."
It was the first goal allowed by Dallas in three games. The Stars were coming off consecutive shutouts against Colorado and the New York Rangers.
Radulov scored his fourth goal in two games at 6:23 of the first. He took the rebound of a shot by Tyler Seguin, skated to the right of the net and slid a backhand behind Crawford.
NOTES: The Stars missed a chance to tie a franchise record with a third straight shutout. The first-year expansion Minnesota North Stars' Cesare Maniago had three in a row Dec. 13-16, 1967. ... In 47 career games against Dallas, Kane has 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists). ... The visiting team has won all three games to date in the season series. ... The only three power plays were for Chicago, which fell to 2 for 23 over six-plus games. The Stars have been successful on their last 14 penalty kills. ... The Blackhawks had a 77-60 advantage in total shots.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Return home to play Arizona on Monday.
Stars: Begin a two-game trip at Buffalo on Tuesday.