Blackhawks lose to Kings in OT
Los Angeles' Drew Doughty scored a power-play goal with 11.6 seconds remaining in overtime, sending the visiting Blackhawks to a crushing 3-2 defeat Sunday.
Jonathan Toews was whistled for holding Anze Kopitar with 31 seconds left in OT, allowing the Kings to skate 4-on-3.
The Hawks (34-33-11) are now 6 points behind Colorado, which is in the second wild-card spot, with just four games remaining. The Hawks are also 3 points behind Arizona and 2 behind Minnesota.
Erik Gustafsson snapped a 1-1 tie early in the third period and the Blackhawks looked like they'd go on to victory, but the Kings tied it again on a Michael Amadio goal with 4:15 remaining.
Alex DeBrincat also scored and Corey Crawford made 26 saves in his 12th straight start as the Hawks went 1-1-1 on their three-game road trip.
Gustafsson scored on a long blast from just inside the blue line at 3:09 of the third period. He has 17 goals on the season, which is tied for second among defensemen with Calgary's Mark Giordano. Toronto's Morgan Rielly leads with 20.
DeBrincat is now tied with Patrick Kane for the team lead with 41 goals. Kane assisted on DeBrincat's goal, giving him 105 points on the season - 1 behind his career high.
Caggiula returns:
After missing 13 games with a concussion, forward Drake Caggiula made his return to the lineup at Los Angeles on Saturday. In addition to being his normal feisty self, Caggiula also nearly scored with 4:14 remaining in the first period. His shot got through Kings goalie Jack Campbell, but the puck trickled just wide of the net.
"I'm definitely excited to be back," said Caggiula, who has 4 goals and 3 assists in 22 games with the Hawks since coming over in a trade with Edmonton. "(Stinks) obviously missing the games that I missed. They were some pretty important ones. Try to make the most of these last five here. I'm happy to be healthy."
Caggiula finished with 4 shots on goal in 16 minutes, 53 seconds of ice time.
Perlini sits:
Brendan Perlini, who played just 5:44 against San Jose and sat out the entire third period, was scratched for the first time since Feb. 27. The inconsistent Perlini made a poor decision in the second period by kicking a pass to the middle of the ice in the neutral zone. The lazy play led to a turnover and gave the Sharks a scoring chance.
"Same message," Colliton said when asked what he wants out of Perlini. "Work ethic away from the puck, get to full speed without the puck, find a way to get pucks out of your end, play in the offensive zone and create turnovers by working hard on the forecheck. (Then) the offensive skills will show through."
Perlini racked up 8 goals in seven games from March 2-16, but he didn't have a point in his last six games while managing just 8 shots on goal.
Rockford update:
Henri Jokiharju, Luke Johnson, Peter Holland and Dennis Gilbert scored for Rockford a 4-1 victory over visiting Grand Rapids on Saturday as the IceHogs try and make a push to make the Calder Cup playoffs. Rockford (32-27-10) is 3 points behind Texas for the fourth and final spot in the Central Division. The IceHogs, who are also 1 point behind Manitoba and Milwaukee, have two games in hand on Texas with seven to play. Jokiharju has 2 goals and 12 assists in 23 games with Rockford.