Toews sinks Canucks in OT as resurgent ’Hawks win 6th in row
CHICAGO 4 VANCOUVER 3 (OT)
CHICAGO — Jonathan Toews scored 3:21 into overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks over the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Thursday night for their season-high sixth straight win.
Alex DeBrincat scored twice before Toews ended it with his 24th goal to cap a flashy individual effort. Chicago’s captain skated in from the blue line, slipped past Christopher Tanev with a quick move and snapped a shot past goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Vancouver rookie Elias Pettersson scored a power-play goal with Markstrom pulled for an extra attacker to tie it with 1:52 left.
Brandon Saad also scored and Dylan Strome had three assists for the Blackhawks, who have climbed back into the crowded fray for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Patrick Kane had an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games.
Alex Biega and Josh Leivo scored for the Canucks, who have dropped three straight and finished a four-game trip at 1-2-1.
Delia made 40 saves. Markstrom blocked 31 shots in his sixth straight start.
The Blackhawks went two for five on the power play. Chicago has scored with the man advantage in 15 of 17 games and converted 23 of 57 chances during the stretch.
DeBrincat has 28 goals, matching his total last season as rookie, and 10 goals in his last 12 games. The 21-year-old extended his point streak to seven games, with five goals and seven assists in the stretch.
Markstrom slouched to the ice after blocking a high shot by Toews with just over five minutes left in the first period, but stayed in the game after skating to the bench during a timeout and getting treatment.
DeBrincat and Saad scored powerplay goals 59 seconds apart late in the first to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.
DeBrincat opened the scoring during a 5-on-3 advantage with 2:01 left in the first. He beat Markstrom with a onetimer from the left side after taking Strome’s cross-ice feed.
Saad made it 2-0 from the crease when he converted a rebound of Brent Seabrook’s shot from the point.
The Canucks bounced back to tie it at 2 early in the second on goals 2:21 apart by Biega and Leivo.
Biega cut it to 2-1 at 2:20 of the period on a high shot from the blue line as Pettersson cut across the crease to distract Delia. Leivo then beat Delia on the glove side with a rising shot into the upper corner of the net from the left circle.
DeBrincat’s second goal, with 5:59 left in the second restored Chicago’s lead at 3-2.
Connor Murphy held in a loose puck at the blue line and swept a backhand pass down to Strome at the right side of the net. Strome fed a cross-ice pass to DeBrincat, who whipped in a one-timer from the left circle.
Pettersson’s team-leading 25th goal, fired from the top of the right circle, deflected in off the Delia’s mask with 1:52 left in the third to tie it.
Delia stopped Pettersson on a breakaway 1:13 into overtime.
The Canucks return to Vancouver to face Calgary on Saturday.
Canadiens 5 Jets 2
MONTREAL — The red-hot Montreal Canadiens refused to be intimidated by one of the league’s best and biggest teams.
The Canadiens confirmed their surprising start to the season is more than just a fluke with a convincing 5-2 victory over the division-leading Winnipeg Jets.
Jonathan Drouin and Phillip Danault each had four-point games as Montreal fired a season-high 53 shots on net.
“This was one of our best games this year,” said coach Claude Julien. “This was a team that we had a ton of respect for because of who they are and how good they are. And we were ready to play them.”
A slew of outstanding individual performances extended Montreal’s win streak to three games. The Canadiens (31-18-6) improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
Drouin had two goals and two assists for the first four-point game of his career. Danault scored once and added three helpers to extend his point streak to four games. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in his fourth consecutive game — a franchise record for an 18-year-old. And goalie Carey Price stopped 32 shots for his seventh consecutive victory.
Mark Scheifele and Brendan Lemieux scored for the Jets (34-17-3), who have lost two games in a row.