Anisimov hat trick carries Blackhawks past Rangers
CHICAGO -- Artem Anisimov scored a hat trick in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks pulled away for a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night at the United Center.
Alex DeBrincat, John Hayden and Jonathan Toews also scored for the Blackhawks. Chicago (9-8-2) improved to 5-4-1 at home.
Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes and Rick Nash scored for the Rangers. The defeat ended a six-game winning streak for New York (9-8-2), which lost for the first time since Oct. 28.
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made 25 saves to snap a three-game skid.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 34 shots before Ondrej Pavelec replaced him in the third period. Pavelec made seven saves.
New York opened the scoring with 10:02 to go in the first period. From the front of the crease, Zibanejad chipped a shot past Crawford's glove for his team-leading ninth goal and his first goal in the past six games.
Chicago evened the score at 1 in the final minute of the second period. A long-distance wrist shot by DeBrincat trickled through Lundqvist's pads and slowly crossed the goal line.
A takeaway along the boards by right winger Patrick Kane helped Chicago seize a 2-1 lead with 18:53 to go in the third period. Kane slipped a pass behind the net to Nick Schmaltz, who found Anisimov in front of the crease.
Forty-six seconds later, Chicago scored again to make it 3-1. Hayden chased down a rebound and punched a shot into the back of the net as he fell to his stomach.
Chicago increased its lead to 4-1 with Anisimov's power-play goal in front of the net with 14:46 left.
The Rangers pulled within 4-2 with 12:52 remaining when Kevin Hayes scored from the right side of the crease. The deficit narrowed to one goal less than five minutes later when Nash won a footrace and scored on a backhand.
Anisimov finished his hat trick on a two-on-one break with 3:48 to go. Fans littered the ice with hats as Anisimov celebrated his third goal of the game and his ninth of the season.
Toews finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:30 remaining.
NOTES: Blackhawks RW Ryan Hartman and C Tommy Wingels returned to action after each sat out the previous game as a healthy scratch. They took the spots of C Tanner Kero and D Jordan Oesterle, who watched the game in shirts and ties. ... Rangers D Kevin Shattenkirk's point streak ended at seven games. ... Blackhawks C Nick Schmaltz notched three assists, which improved his season total to 10 points (3 G, 7 A). ... Rangers C Paul Carey and D Brendan Smith were healthy scratches.