DeBrincat helps Blackhawks beat Hurricanes 6-4

Thu, Feb 4, 2021
AP Sports

CHICAGO (AP) - Alex DeBrincat scored two goals in the third period, helping the Chicago Blackhawks edge the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 on Thursday night.

Patrick Kane had a goal and three assists for the Blackhawks, who bounced back nicely after losing 4-3 to the Hurricanes in a shootout Tuesday night. Dominik Kubalik had a goal and two assists, and Mattias Janmark finished with a goal and an assist.

DeBrincat snapped a 4-4 tie when he converted a backhand off a rebound 12:22 into the third. Kane had the puck behind the net and fed Pius Suter, who was denied by James Reimer. DeBrincat then skated in for his third goal of the season.

DeBrincat added an empty-netter with 12 seconds to play, assisted by Kane.

Carolina had won five in a row. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes. Bob McGinn and Nino Niederreiter also scored.

The Blackhawks grabbed a 4-3 lead when Kane scored his sixth of the season 2:41 into the third. But the Hurricanes tied it again on McGinn's wrist shot over the glove of Chicago goaltender Kevin Lankinen at 5:25.

Lankinen stopped 30 shots, including a big save on Teuvo Teravainen with nine minutes to play.

Niederreiter and Svechnikov scored eight seconds apart in the first minute of the second to tie the game at 3. Niederreiter snuck behind defenseman Nicolas Beaudin to backhand a puck past Lankinen 42 seconds into the period, and Svechnikov pounced on Lankinen's big rebound of Dougie Hamilton's shot.

The Blackhawks answered Aho's game-opening goal with three power-play goals in the first. They managed three power-play goals in a game only three times last season.

Janmark tied it at 3:17, beating Reimer with a backhand in front. Kubalik gave Chicago a 2-1 lead with Martin Necas off for tripping at 14:43, and Andrew Shaw made it 3-1 by backhanding Kane's bullet pass into the net while Brady Skjei was serving a tripping penalty.

Reimer made 29 saves in picking up his first loss of the season.

COVID CONCERNS

The Blackhawks have three players (Adam Boqvist, Lucas Wallmark and Ryan Carpenter) remaining on the NHL's COVID-19 list. Carolina's Jesper Fast was the final Hurricane to come off the list, following the team's nine-day pause after an outbreak. He had missed four games. Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour remains concerned, even after the league added additional restrictions on Thursday, including removing the glass behind the benches.

"It's hard to avoid," Brind'Amour said. "We try to limit the contact as much as possible as everybody tells you to do, but it's still hard to avoid."

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: At Columbus on Sunday.

Blackhawks: At Dallas on Sunday.