Sharp helps Hawks to first OT win of season
Patrick Sharp set up Marian Hossa's tying goal in the final minute of regulation and then got the game-winner 43 seconds into overtime to lift the Blackhawks to a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Jeremy Morin also scored in the Blackhawks' fourth straight win overall, and their first in overtime this season after seven losses.
Sharp scored the winner on a shot from the slot that struck Montreal goalie Peter Budaj, rolled high off his equipment, ticked off the left post and landed in the net.
Hossa had tipped in Sharp's feed from the right corner left to tie the game at 2 with 47.7 seconds left in the third period.
Corey Crawford finished with 28 saves in the Blackhawks' final regular season home game.
Dale Weise and Francis Bouillon scored for Montreal, which snapped a two-game win streak and lost for just the third time in its last 13 games. Budaj had 25 saves.
The Canadiens were without starting goalie Carey Price and defensemen Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin, who didn't make the trip to Chicago so they could rest for the playoffs.
Not only was their little scoring, there were only two penalties — both on Montreal — in a cautiously played game between Original Six rivals with depleted lineups.
Chicago's played its fourth game without star forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Both are expected to miss the remainder of the regular season, but return for the playoffs.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kane said he will be at 100 percent for the postseason despite a brace on his injured left knee.
Kane, who was leading Chicago in scoring when he was hurt in a game against St. Louis on March 19, resumed skating on his own five days ago. On Wednesday, he skated with his teammates for the first time in the hours before the game against Montreal.
Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk played only two shifts in the first period before suffering a lower-body injury and did not return.
Any loss by Detroit would set up a first-round playoff matchup between the Canadiens and Lightning, with home-ice advantage to be determined.
The Canadiens won the other game this season between the teams on Jan. 11 in Montreal.
All the scoring came after the second period.
Wiese, who had sat out the last six games with an upper body injury, got the Canadiens on the scoreboard first, completing a 3-on-2 break after taking a feed from Josh Gorges at 7:31 of the third. Gorges was playing for the first time since March 5 after undergoing surgery on his left hand.
Morin tied at 10:34 on a low shot from the right circle that slipped between Budaj's pads.
Bouillon put the Canadiens back ahead just 22 seconds later, as his high screened shot from the point slipped past Crawford's shoulder.