DeBrincat gets hat trick in Chicago Blackhawks' 5-1 win

Alex DeBrincat grew up in Michigan. Rooted for the Red Wings. Loved watching Steve Yzerman and Pavel Datsyuk dominate opponents night after night.

“(Yzerman) was the guy in Detroit,” DeBrincat said in October. “He was the leader and brought them to a few Stanley Cups. I just like watching him play.”

Yzerman certainly would have returned the compliment if he had been in Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night to see DeBrincat register a hat trick and add an assist during the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-1 victory over the Red Wings.

DeBrincat became the first Blackhawks rookie since Steve Larmer (1982-83) to record two hat tricks in the same season. He has 17 goals, second on the team behind only to Patrick Kane (20).

“The puck was bouncing my way today,” DeBrincat told reporters. “It feels good to get that done in front of my family and friends.”

Anton Forsberg made 24 saves as the Hawks improved to 23-20-6 and crept within 4 points of the second wild-card spot.

DeBrincat opened the scoring with a neat little spin-o-rama shot that beat Jimmy Howard just 3:19 into the opening period. After Anthony Duclair scored his first goal with the Blackhawks 2½ minutes later and Vinnie Hinostroza made it 3-0 at 8:47.

DeBrincat added his second goal midway through the second period to make it 4-0. He completed an epic night with an empty-netter late in the third period.

“Nice to see the Cat have a big night in his hometown,” coach Joel Quenneville said.

Early this season, DeBrincat lit up the NHL by scoring 11 goals from Games 13-29. The well went dry after that, though, and the 20-year-old rookie scored just twice in the next 19 games.

If he could get rolling again, it would make the Hawks that much more dangerous down the stretch.

“The first half of the year, he seemed like he had (the puck) a lot more,” Quenneville said. “When he has it a lot, things develop.”

It was apparent from the opening seconds of this game — when Duncan Keith flattened Andreas Athanasiou in the middle of the ice — that the Hawks hadn't forgotten about the 4-0 whitewashing Detroit handed them less than two weeks ago.

“Obviously against this team we wanted to give them a payback after the performance we showed against them at home,” said Duclair, who added 2 assists. “We owed them one tonight, and we did a great job bouncing back.”

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