Blackhawks ride Kane hat trick to win over Pens
CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane registered his second hat trick in a week, and Scott Darling made 36 saves as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Wednesday night to win the 10th time in 11 games.
Kane's second goal gave the Blackhawks (40-18-5) some breathing room after Richard Panik snapped a 2-2 tie in the closing minute of the second period. Kane, who has 12 goals in his past 11 games and seven in his past three, then capped the win with a back-handed, empty-net goal in the final minute.
Kane also had a hat trick in a win over the Arizona Coyotes last week.
Darling preserved the Blackhawks' one-goal lead throughout the third period. He made a sprawling glove save after Sidney Crosby found Matt Cullen directly in front of the Chicago net.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the Penguins (38-15-8). Scott Wilson scored Pittsburgh's lone goal.
Panik capped an eventful second period and gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead when he weaved around Evgeni Malkin and fired a shot into the left corner and out of the reach of Fleury with 23.9 seconds remaining.
Patrick Kane scored his 10th goal in 11 games to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at the 8:49 mark of the second period. Nick Schmaltz corralled a Penguins turnover at center ice and found Kane, who found himself with a two-on-one chance. Kane fired a shot that got under Fleury's pads to break the scoreless tie.
Scott Wilson tied the game with three minutes remaining in the second period when he slipped a shot just under the crossbar. The puck rung around the inside of the crossbar and officials initially ruled the puck hadn't found the net. After video review, the call was overturned, which drew the Penguins even.
NOTES: Chicago F Artem Anisimov left the game with an undisclosed injury midway through the second period. ... Penguins D Kris Letang (upper body) missed his third consecutive game. ... The Penguins acquired D Mark Streit from Tampa Bay and D Frankie Corrado from Toronto on Wednesday. Corrado will be sent to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Streit, 39, was traded twice on Wednesday, moving from Philadelphia to the Lightning before being shipped to the Penguins. Streit was scratched Wednesday night. ... Blackhawks D Johnny Oduya did not play Wednesday, a day after he rejoined his former team in a trade with the Dallas Stars. Oduya is coming off an ankle injury that kept him out for 15 games before he played Feb. 26. ... Blackhawks G Corey Crawford missed his second game in a row while recovering from illness. ... Chicago D Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body) did not play. He remains day-to-day. ... Blackhawks LW Andrew Desjardins and RW Jordin Tootoo (illness) were scratched.