Blackhawks’ Friday OT special
Game-winning goal from DeBrincat snaps skid vs. Blues
Alex DeBrincat scored 1 minute, 27 seconds into overtime, and the Blackhawks overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Friday at the United Center.
DeBrincat beat Jordan Binnington for his 12th goal with a one-timer from the left side of the crease after taking a cross-ice feed from
Patrick Kane on a 2-on-1 break.
The Blackhawks snapped a five-game losing streak in the series and improved to 6-2-0 under interim coach Derek King.
“To be a good team, you’ve got to win those games,” DeBrincat said. “Even when you’re down, you’ve got to come back to find a way and I think that’s what we did tonight. Hopefully we can build on that.”
The Blackhawks started the season 1-9-2 and were all-but unresponsive under Jeremy Colliton. King took over Nov. 6.
“Earlier in the season, we were down 2-0 and it’s probably over,” DeBrincat said. “But I think we had a good reset there in the (first) intermission and came out and played strong.”
Brandon Hagel scored for the third straight game — on a deflection with 5:04 left in the third — to tie it at 2. At the edge of the crease, Hagel
redirected Seth Jones’ shot from the point past Binnington.
The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 10-2 in the third and patiently took charge of the game.
“We talked about it earlier, about the confidence these guys are building every game, the ups and downs,” King said. “I thought the second and third for us was the best we’ve played — just simple hockey and just stuck
with the program.”
And the Blues were down a forward after David Perron left with an upper-body injury in the first period and didn’t return.
“It seemed like we didn’t have much in the tank,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I think we ran out of energy.”
Jujhar Khaira also scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, who got 23 saves from Kevin Lankinen
and two assists from Jones.
Pavel Buchnevich and Ivan Barbashev scored in the first period and Binnington made 24 saves as the Blues slipped to 2-5-2 in their last nine.
The Blackhawks beat the Blues for the first time since April 3, 2019.
The Blues edged the Hawks 1-0 in St. Louis behind Binnington on Oct. 30. The teams met only four times in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and didn’t face each other in 2020-21 when the NHL juggled it divisions for a 56-game campaign.
Buchnevich opened the scoring 59 seconds into the first, completing a 3-on-1 break after Jones got caught up ice. Buchnevich fired in his second goal in two goal games into an open net after taking Jordan Kyrou’s crossice feed.
Barbashev’s power-play goal with 3:21 left in the first made it 2-0. After Robert Thomas’ centering pass hit his a skate, Barbashev popped a loose puck from just outside the crease past a screened Lankinen.
Khaira cut it to 2-1 just 34 seconds into the second period, batting in a rebound of Mike Hardman’s shot from midair.
Binnington made a glove save on Hardman’s close-in attempt, but the goalie flipped the puck straight up. At the goal line, Khaira waited for the puck to drop below the crossbar, then tapped it in.