Panik scores winner in 3rd, Blackhawks rally past Isles 5-4 (Dec 15, 2016)
NEW YORK (AP) The Chicago Blackhawks have been very good at winning one-goal games this season.
Richard Panik scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:13 left in the third period to lift Chicago over the New York Islanders 5-4 on Thursday night.
Scott Darling made 28 saves as the Blackhawks (20-8-4) rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and improved to 13-4-4 in one-goal games.
''We've got great leadership and we don't change the way we play,'' coach Joel Quenneville said. ''We've been fortunate scoring big goals and getting great goaltending. The guys play the right way and the top guys lead the charge.''
Artemi Panarin scored twice on the power play for the Blackhawks, who lead the Western Conference with 44 points. Artem Anisimov and Marian Hossa each had a goal.
Panik's eighth of the season gave Chicago its fourth victory in five games and eighth in the last 10 meetings with the Islanders.
''It was a really good pass. I tried to shoot it and I'm glad it went in,'' Panik said.
Andrew Ladd, Casey Cizikas, Ryan Strome and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders, last in the Eastern Conference with 27 points.
New York went 0 for 2 on the power play while Chicago was 3 for 3.
''We made some plays but we need a little more discipline,'' said Strome, who has three goals in 26 games this season. ''We have to be better on the power play. We had opportunities to change the game and we couldn't do it.''
Lee scored his ninth goal of the season, and eighth in the last 11 games, to break a 3-all tie 22 seconds into the second. That followed a wild first period in which each team scored three times.
Panarin tied it 4-all with his second goal of the game at 19:41 of the second. He fired his 13th of the season past goalie Thomas Greiss with Josh Bailey serving an interference penalty.
Ladd and Cizikas scored early for the Islanders before the Blackhawks roared back with goals by Panarin, Anisimov and Hossa in a span of just more than 4 minutes.
Strome tied it at 3 with his goal at 15:20 of the first.
In the first meeting between the teams since opening weekend last season, the Islanders came out with purpose after disheartening losses to Columbus and Washington.
Ladd, the former Blackhawk, scored his fourth of the season at 2:14, whipping the puck past Darling. Alan Quine and Jason Chimera assisted. It was the ninth time in the last 10 games the Islanders scored first.
Cizikas made it 2-0 at 3:48, backhanding a rebound of a shot by Nikolay Kulemin past Darling for his fourth this season.
Panarin cut the deficit in half at 9:47. Panarin, who won the Calder Trophy last season as the NHL's top rookie, one-timed a laser shot off a pass from Brent Seabrook past Greiss.
Anisimov, who scored the winning goal in Chicago's 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday, tied the game at 2 on the power play at 13:03 of the first.
''We got some goals on the power play which really helped us,'' Panik said.
Anisimov's 14th of the season finished a perfect tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Patrick Kane and Panarin.
''All our goals were the result of nice passes, good finishes and some highlight plays,'' said Quenneville, who has coached the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles since 2010. ''You have to like all the goals.''
Hossa, the 38-year-old winger, scored his team-leading 16th at 14:08 after a giveaway by Bailey in front of Greiss. Ryan Hartman and Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews had assists.
Strome tied it with his third goal when his shot from the point glanced off a Blackhawks defender before eluding Darling, making his seventh straight start in place of Corey Crawford, who had an appendectomy on Dec. 3.
NOTES: The Blackhawks played in Brooklyn for the first time since a 3-2 overtime win in October 2015, the NHL opener at Barclays Center. The teams played the next night in Chicago and the Blackhawks won 5-1. ... It was the sixth time this season the Islanders (11-13-5) entered the third period tied and came away without a point. ... Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck, who signed a five-year contract extension last week, played his 600th NHL game. ... Chicago is 13-0-1 when Hossa scores.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Saturday night at St. Louis.
Islanders: Friday night at Buffalo.
