Chicago scores three in third, ends L.A.'s 7-game winning streak
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews came through big for the Chicago Blackhawks against one of their Western Conference rivals.
Kane and Toews each had a goal and an assist to lead the Blackhawks to a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles on Monday night, snapping the Kings' seven-game winning streak.
Kane scored to tie it at 2, then set up Teuvo Teravainen's tiebreaking goal in the third as Chicago scored three goals in the final period to earn its first come-from-behind win this season.
"Going into the third down a goal, I think that's a big confidence boost for us, knowing we can come back, we can score goals," Kane said. "We've been struggling to score 5-on-5 and we had three tonight.
"That's a big step in the right direction. Hopefully it gives us some confidence."
After taking Toews' pass, Artem Anisimov added a short-handed breakaway goal with 1:33 left to complete the scoring, and the Blackhawks ended a two-game slide. Toews got his fifth goal in five games after not scoring in the opening seven contests to help Chicago win its sixth straight at home.
The Blackhawks entered this one fresh from road losses in Winnipeg and Minnesota, and trailed 2-1 heading into the third period.
But Kane and Toews changed the tone, and coach Joel Quenneville liked the finish.
"A great third period," Quenneville said. "We did some decent things, scored a couple of big goals. Kaner made a great shot and a great play to Teuvo.
"Johnny made a nifty play to Artie (Anisimov). We can't score on breakaways except for Artie. Nice to see him finish it."
Alec Martinez scored his first goal of the season and Anze Kopitar got his fourth late in the first period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead it looked like they might hold.
"If we could have made it 3-1, it probably would have made a big difference," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "We just couldn't get the third goal."
"It would have been nice to get an extra goal, but we've been playing in a lot of those tight games," added defenseman Christian Ehrhoff. "It just got away from us a little bit in the third, and they buried their chances."
Chicago's Corey Crawford made 33 saves and Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick stopped 22 shots.
Teravainen put Chicago ahead 3-2 at 9:02 of the third when he connected on a one-timer from the left edge of the crease. Kane fed him tape-to-tape with a behind-the-back, backhand pass from behind the net.
"(Kane) scores goals and makes plays almost out of nowhere," Teravainen said. "He makes something happen. He finds ways to get us momentum maybe when nothing's going on."
Earlier on Monday, Chicago sent slumping forward Bryan Bickell to Rockford of the AHL and recalled prospect Marko Dano.
The Blackhawks kept the Kings' hot line of Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter and Milan Lucic off the scoresheet. That trio had combined for 12 goals and nine assists in the previous five games.
Chicago played without veteran forward Marian Hossa, who sat out with an undisclosed injury, but coach Joel Quenneville said before the game he's "hopeful" Hossa will return on Wednesday against St. Louis.
Toews opened the scoring 6:01 in, completing a 2-on-1 break with a low, one-timed shot from the slot.
Martinez and Kopitar connected just over four minutes apart late in the first to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Kane tied it at 2 at 1:22 of the third with his seventh goal, on a nifty screened shot from the top of the left circle.
After weaving through center ice with the puck, Kane closed into the Los Angeles zone and fired a shot between Martinez's legs. The puck sailed in over Quick's glove.
Quick preserved the tie when he stopped rookie Artemi Panarin on a breakaway moments after Panarin had served a slashing call and left the penalty box.
Notes: The 29-year-old Bickell has struggled since he was rewarded in June 2013 with a four-year contract extension that pays $4 million annually. He had no points in seven games this season after clearing waivers in early October. According to Quenneville, Bickell is not injured and needs to work on his consistency if he hopes to return to Chicago. ... The 20-year-old Dano was acquired from Columbus on June 30 in a trade that sent Brandon Saad to the Blue Jackets. ... Kings captain Dustin Brown is still looking for his first goal after 11 games. It's his longest drought from the start of a season since the first 17 games of his 2003-04 rookie campaign. ... The Kings lost on the road for the first time, dropping to 3-1 away from Los Angeles.
