Blackhawks' Perlini notches hat trick in win over Coyotes

There's nothing better than sweet revenge.

Especially the kind that comes against a team that gave up on you and a general manager who was worried about his "assets" expiring.

So it's safe to say that Monday's 7-1 Blackhawks victory over Arizona is one Brendan Perlini and Dylan Strome will never forget.

Perlini notched his first career hat trick - the second goal coming on a perfect feed from Strome and the third with just 3.6 seconds remaining - as the Hawks built a 5-1 lead in under 29 minutes. Brandon Saad, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews also scored for coach Jeremy Colliton's squad, which has won three straight and is now just 5 points behind Minnesota in the wild-card race.

Just as important, the surging Hawks (30-30-9) are also 4 points behind ninth-place Arizona (34-30-5) and 3 behind Colorado (30-28-12).

Corey Crawford started in net and made 24 saves.

Perlini, who came to the Hawks from Arizona with Strome in exchange for Nick Schmaltz in November, has 11 goals on the season and 6 in his last five games. Coyotes GM John Chayka told Arizona reporters one reason he made the move was because he didn't want to "run the risk of the asset expiring."

Well, Strome now has 14 goals and 27 assists in 45 games with the Hawks.

And the 6-foot-3, 211-pound Perlini is becoming a force as well.

"It's always tough, to be honest, to move to a new city, new surroundings, living in a hotel. It's hard to be uncomfortable," Perlini said. "As things have gone on, the guys have been really (good) in just communicating with me.

"Lots of the older guys - Tazer, and Anisimov has been a really big help for me. I'm just feeling more comfortable in bringing out my skill set to the game and playing my game out there."

Perlini's first goal came after he received a perfect stretch pass from Brent Seabrook. Perlini easily beat goalie Darcy Kuemper, tying the game at 1-1 just 6:38 into the contest.

Perlini's second tally made it 3-1 at 3:16 of the second, and he very nearly notched the hat trick early in the third, but his shot hit the post and somehow stayed out of the net.

No matter.

As the final seconds ticked away, Perlini's teammates decided to give it one more try. Alex DeBrincat's pass got deflected by Alex Goligoski and somehow squirted right to Perlini, who said he got "maybe a centimeter and a half" of the puck on his shot.

"Really happy for him," Colliton said. "Obviously it was a big night for him, playing against his old team. Hopefully he can continue to build his game."

Toews, who scored on a penalty shot at 14:08 of the second period, now has 30 goals and 71 points. It's the first time he has reached those numbers since 2011-12 (32G, 76 points).

Kane has 41 goals and is 5 behind his career high.

Ward practices:

Goalie Cam Ward, who is out with a knee injury, participated in the morning skate ahead of the Hawks game against Arizona. It's possible he could return later this week.

Anisimov banged up:

Artem Anisimov played just over 12 minutes against the Coyotes and did not return after going to the locker room in the third period. Jeremy Colliton said the center has been nursing an injury, but he does not believe it's serious.

"We just thought we'd give him the last 10 (minutes) off to make sure he's ready for the trip (to Toronto and Montreal)," Colliton said.