DALLAS — Alex DeBrincat and David Kampf scored on odd-man rushes in the first period, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Saturday night.
Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks shut out the Stars for the last 53:37 in the team’s second straight win. Crawford made 26 saves in his third victory in four games since recovering from a concussion.
Dallas maintained its lead for the first wild card in the Western Conference, but slipped to four points behind third-place St. Louis in the Central Division. The Stars had won four in a row.
Alexander Radulov scored for Dallas, and Anton Khudobin made 37 saves.
Chicago jumped in front when Kampf and Chris Kunitz combined on a textbook 2-on-1. Kampf skated down the right side, passed across to Kunitz, received a return pass and beat Khudobin 5:10 into the first period.
It was the first goal allowed by Dallas in three games. The Stars were coming off consecutive shutouts against Colorado and the New York Rangers.
Radulov scored his fourth goal in two games at 6:23 of the first. He took the rebound of a shot by Tyler Seguin, skated to the right of the net and slid a backhand behind Crawford.
Defenceman Connor Murphy started the play that restored the Blackhawks’ one-goal lead. He dived to bat the puck out to Patrick Kane, who skated through the neutral zone and passed to DeBrincat behind the Dallas defence. He had an easy wrist shot from the slot 36 seconds before the period ended.
Chicago dominated the second period, outshooting Dallas 15-9, but neither team scored. The best chance came with 12 seconds left, when Khudobin made a sprawling save as Dominik Kahun tried to tuck a short wrist shot inside the left goalpost.
NOTES: The Stars missed a chance to tie a franchise record with a third straight shutout. The first-year expansion Minnesota North Stars’ Cesare Maniago had three in a row Dec. 13-16, 1967. … In 47 career games against Dallas, Kane has 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists). … The visiting team has won all three games to date in the season series. … The only three power plays were for Chicago, which fell to 2 for 23 over six-plus games. The Stars have been successful on their last 14 penalty kills.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Return home to play Arizona on Monday.
Stars: Begin a two-game trip at Buffalo on Tuesday.
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