Panarin comes up big in Hawks OT win
Artemi Panarin needed a game like this.
In the worst way.
The 24-year-old rookie scored a pair of goals and notched 2 assists during the Blackhawks' back-and-forth 5-4 overtime victory over Winnipeg on Friday night.
The Hawks (45-26-7) are now 4 points behind the second-place Blues with four games left for each team. The squads will play at the United Center in Game 81 on Thursday.
Panarin hadn't scored a goal in nine straight games and was clearly struggling in the last six when he'd taken just 5 shots on goal.
But he clearly found his stride in this one, scoring the Hawks' first goal, tying the game with 4:45 remaining and assisting on Brent Seabrook's game-winner just 62 seconds into overtime. Panarin now has 27 goals and 68 points on the season.
"It was up and down. Both teams were playing well," Seabrook told Comcast SportsNet. "It just goes to show that we can come back in games. … That's a confidence boost for our team, and we've got to continue to do that."
It was also a big night for Patrick Kane, who gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead 17:22 into the second period. Kane, who also had an assist, has 40 goals and 96 points. He is the first Blackhawk with 40 goals since Tony Amonte had 43 in 1999-2000.
It wasn't all good news for the Hawks, though, as Andrew Shaw had to be helped off the ice in the second period after suffering an upper-body injury. Coach Joel Quenneville said Shaw is day-to-day.
The Hawks appeared to take a 4-2 lead with 16:00 left in the third period when Teuvo Teravainen blasted a one-timer that one official ruled a goal, but the puck hit a post and never crossed the goal line.
Just over a minute later, Trevor van Riemsdyk sent a perfect pass to Panarin in front of the net, but Panarin misfired. That blown opportunity proved costly when, 22 seconds later, Dustin Byfuglien tied the game at 3-3 with his 18th goal of the season.
Winnipeg then took the lead on a Blake Wheeler tally with 8:21 remaining, but Kruger helped save the day with his perfect feed to Panarin.
"It shows a lot of character to come back a couple times," said goalie Scott Darling, who is 4-3-1 since Corey Crawford suffered an upper-body injury. "Big goal there by Bread Man, great play by Krugs … huge bury by Seabs in OT.
"Winning those close games, they're good for the team and good for the confidence."
Very true, but while the Hawks won without Marian Hossa (illness) or Crawford, it wasn't exactly a thing of beauty and Quenneville admitted as much afterward.
"We've still got to be better in areas," he said. "Managing the puck late in shifts and giving up quality rush chances is something that we've got to make sure we take care of."