Last season the Stars owned the Hawks. In the teams’ five meetings, the Hawks managed to win just one with the Stars dominating every other meeting.
This season, the tables turned and while the Stars struggled thanks to injuries early in the season the Hawks didn’t make it easy on them in capturing the first three meetings.
The Stars had a familiar face back for the fourth meeting Saturday, winger Patrick Sharp, who missed the previous games because of a concussion.
But Sharp’s presence did little to change recent history as the Hawks came away with a 5-3 victory. The triumph was Corey Crawford’s 202nd, which broke his tie with Ed Belfour for third-most in Hawks history.
"He’s certainly in great company," coach Joel Quenneville said. "You look at what he has done, not just in the regular season, but his playoff wins and winning Stanley Cups is certainly a great accomplishment."
Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the winning goal at the 15 minute, 57 second mark in a wild third period that began with the Hawks ahead 2-1 and saw the Stars relinquish a 3-2 lead. The Hawks then scored three unanswered goals with the last being Jonathan Toews’ with a second left.
Jamie Benn tied the score 2-2 40 seconds into the third with a backhanded goal while Tyler Seguin gave the Stars the lead at 9:24. The Hawks answered with a backhanded breakaway goal from Patrick Kane just 35 seconds later.
The teams played a relatively quiet first period with prime scoring chances hard to come by, though the Hawks managed to kill two penalties. Each team had 10 shots on goal.
But the pace and scoring picked up from the start of the second period, specifically eight second into the period. The Stars got a soft goal on Crawford when Radek Faksa’s shot just squeaked into the net.
The puck got trapped in Crawford’s equipment, which included his new NHL-mandated smaller goalie pants and appeared to glide in the net off his left leg for a 1-0 Stars lead.
Joel Quenneville on Blackhawks’ 5-3 win over Stars
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville reacts to the team’s 5-3 win over the Stars on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. (Chris Hine/Chicago Tribune)
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville reacts to the team’s 5-3 win over the Stars on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. (Chris Hine/Chicago Tribune)
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But the Hawks did not let that early letdown faze them. They controlled zone time for much of the period and finished with 18 shots on goal to the Stars’ 12.
Ryan Hartman put the Hawks on the board. Tanner Kero helped set up the play by snaring the puck away from a Stars defender and getting a deflected pass over to Hartman in front of the net. Hartman buried the shot high on Kari Lehtonen for his 12th goal of the season at 6:20.
The Hawks got their second goal just a few minutes later when Gustav Forsling scored on a shot from the point that deflected in off the stick of Stars winger Patrick Sharp. It was Forsling’s second goal of the season and came during a night he showed a lot of confidence in his shot, something he wanted to work on during his demotion to the Icehogs. Through two periods Saturday, Forsling had four shots on goal and two other attempts blocked.
But Forsling’s night wasn’t all rosy. He had a giveaway near his own net that led to Seguin’s goal in the third.
chine@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @ChristopherHine
Chris Hine’s three stars
1. Artem Anisimov, Blackhawks: Helped set up tying and winning goals.
2. Trevor van Riemsdyk, Blackhawks: Crashed the net for winning goal.
3. Patrick Kane, Blackhawks: Backhanded goal tied game in third.
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