Blackhawks pull away in 3rd, top Wings, 3-2
DETROIT » Dominik Kubalik scored his second goal of the game 4:43 into overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Monday night.
“It wasn’t our best, but we still found a way to win it and that’s huge,” Kubalik said.
Kubalik and Mattias Janmark gave the Blackhawks a two-goal lead in the first period that they slowly lost before stepping up in the extra session. Kubalik slipped a shot between Thomas Greiss’ pads, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Pius Suter late in overtime.
“It’s not one we’re going to frame,” Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. “But we did get two points and they can’t take them from us.”
The surprising Blackhawks won for the fifth time in six games in the
opener of a six-game trip. Malcolm Subban finished with 27 stops in his fourth start of the season.
“I didn’t have to make any really big saves,” Subban said.
Detroit’s Vladislav Namestnikov scored with 14.1 seconds left in the opening period. After a scoreless second, Christian Djoos pulled the Red Wings into a tie early in the third.
“It’s nice to get a point, but we have to find a way to score more goals and get two points,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said.
Greiss made 21 saves for the Red Wings, who failed to follow up a win with another victory for the fourth time this season.
“I think we’ve been a better team lately,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “We’ve adjusted some minutes to spread things out and be more of a fourline team.”
The Blackhawks started strong, scoring on their first and fifth shots. Carl Soderberg’s no-look pass behind him set up Janmark 4:19 into the game. Namestnikov turned the puck over and Brandon Hagel took advantage, setting up Kubalik’s goal with 3:51 remaining in the first.
Namestnikov made up for his giveaway by scoring in the final seconds of the opening period. Subban appeared to be distracted by traffic in front of the net when Djoos scored from the inside of the left circle 5:49 into the third for his first goal in his 13th game with the team.
“I thought it gave us a big boost, but we weren’t able to get the win,” Djoos said.