The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 at United Center on Thursday night, marking their second victory against Dallas in six days and handing the Stars their fourth consecutive loss.
Ilya Mikheyev led the Blackhawks with two goals, while Teuvo Teravainen and Artyom Levshunov also scored. Spencer Knight made 22 saves for Chicago (15-18-7). The victory improved the Blackhawks to 5-13-3 in their last 21 games.
For Dallas (25-9-7), Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, and Matt Duchene each scored. Jake Oettinger stopped 17 shots in the loss. The defeat marked the Stars' fourth straight setback and came on the second night of a back-to-back following a 4-1 loss at Buffalo on Wednesday.
First Period
Chicago opened the scoring on the power play at 11:48 of the first period when Levshunov converted from the slot. The 20-year-old defenseman took a backhand pass from Andre Burakovsky and fired a wrist shot past Oettinger for his second career goal.
Dallas responded with 5:18 remaining in the period as Rantanen tied the game 1-1 with a nifty backhand. Sam Steel assisted on the play. Rantanen's 16th goal of the season extended his productive stretch to three goals and 11 assists over his last eight games.
Second Period
The Blackhawks regained the lead just 13 seconds into the second period on another power-play goal. Burakovsky delivered a pass from behind the net to Teravainen in front, who scored his eighth goal of the season. Tyler Bertuzzi also assisted on the play.
Mikheyev extended Chicago's advantage to 3-1 at 9:14 of the second. He drove to the net and beat Oettinger while holding off Stars defenseman Esa Lindell. Matt Grzelcyk earned the assist on the goal.
Third Period
Mikheyev added his second goal of the game at 3:58 of the third period, squeezing a shot past Oettinger from a difficult angle. Ryan Donato and Connor Murphy assisted on the goal, putting Chicago ahead 4-1.
Dallas made a late push with two goals in the final four minutes. Robertson scored at 16:03 to cut the deficit to 4-2, with assists from Rantanen and Duchene. Duchene then added a goal at 19:42, assisted by Wyatt Johnston and Robertson, making it 4-3 with 18 seconds remaining. However, Chicago held on for the victory.
Notable Performances
Mikheyev's two-goal performance was his first since returning from a two-game absence for the birth of his child. He has four goals in his last four games and eight on the season.
Ryan Donato and Burakovsky each recorded two assists for Chicago.
Duchene now has 23 goals and 30 assists in 61 career games against the Blackhawks.
Rantanen reached 40 assists in 40 or fewer games for the second time in his career, becoming just the second Finnish player to accomplish the feat multiple times, joining Jari Kurri.
Power Play Success
The Blackhawks converted two of their power-play opportunities, with both goals coming in crucial moments. Chicago was 2-for-4 on the power play, while Dallas went 0-for-1.
Series Sweep
The victory marked Chicago's second win over Dallas in less than a week. The Blackhawks defeated the Stars 4-3 in a shootout at Dallas on December 27. Dallas had previously won seven of their last nine games at United Center before this defeat.
Next Up
The Stars host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday as they look to snap their four-game losing streak.
Chicago travels to Washington to face the Capitals on Saturday night.