DeBrincat gets ball rolling in Hawks' 5-2 win over Stars
One of Alex DeBrincat's biggest hopes this season was to be a more consistent, reliable goal-scorer.
No more droughts of 10-plus games without a goal. Or stretches of 3 scores in 23 games.
That's exactly how DeBrincat's rookie campaign unfolded - one in which he finished with a team-high 28 goals - and the 21-year-old forward was hoping to change that storyline in 2018-19.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks forward, that hasn't been the case, but DeBrincat's stick has started to sizzle again and it helped lead his team to a 5-2 victory at Dallas on Thursday.
DeBrincat opened the scoring against the Stars at 1:12 of the first period with a quick snap shot, giving him 15 goals on the season and 5 in the last 9 games.
Erik Gustafsson (8), Patrick Kane (16 and 17) and Brendan Perlini (4) also scored, Cam Ward (26 saves) had another strong game in net, and the Hawks (12-19-6) won for the third time in five games.
Dallas (17-15-3) fell to 11-4-1 at home and is 1-5-0 in its last six.
DeBrincat got off to a roaring start, scoring 8 goals in the first 10 games, but he managed just 2 in the next 18. He began finding his scoring touch again at Anaheim on Dec. 5, and it continued at Winnipeg on Dec. 11, against Pittsburgh on Dec. 12, against San Jose on Sunday and at Dallas.
"I think I can play better, but am trying to produce every night," DeBrincat said before the Hawks played Nashville on Tuesday. "Over the past few games, I've done a pretty good job. Definitely want to keep that going and maybe even produce a little bit more."
DeBrincat's ultimate goal is to one day produce like Kane, who has averaged 24 multi-point games per season since 2015-16.
"One point a game is not going to helps us as much as a few," said DeBrincat, who accomplished that feat against the Stars by adding 2 assists. "You look at Kaner, he gets a few points a night. That's something I'd like to do sooner or later."
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead after David Kampf won an offensive-zone faceoff, Dylan Sikura deftly slid the puck to DeBrincat, and DeBrincat ripped a quick shot past Ben Bishop.
Gustafsson made it 2-0 on a power-play tally at 17:23 of the first. It was the defenseman's seventh goal in the last 13 games.
Kane made it 3-0 early in the second and added an empty netter with 1:50 remaining after Dallas had cut the lead to 3-2.
The Hawks have been playing better as a team of late and are 3-1-1 in their last five contests.
"We're trying to take the good things and build off them," DeBrincat said. "Keep moving forward and hopefully put ourselves in a good spot later in the season."
The Hawks are at Colorado on Friday, host Florida on Sunday and then are off for three days for the Christmas break.
• Connor Murphy was taken off the ice with less than three minutes remaining after taking a vicious elbow to the head from Tyler Pitlick. Coach Jeremy Colliton told reporters he believes the defenseman should be OK.
Scouting report
Blackhawks vs. Colorado, 8 p.m., at Pepsi Center
TV: NBCSCH • Radio: WGN 720-AM
The skinny: Colorado has hit a bit of a rough patch lately, going just 4-4-2 over its last 10 games. ... Gabriel Landeskog (23) and Nathan MacKinnon (21) were third and fifth, respectively, in goals scored through Wednesday. Mikko Rantanen (16G, 42A) leads the league in scoring. MacKinnon is second with 55 points. ... The Avs have at least 1 power play goal in 25 of 35 games and have notched 2 or more seven times. The Hawks haven't scored twice on the power play since March 11. ... Colorado has scored 5 or more goals 12 times and is 10-1-1 in those games.
Next: Florida Panthers, 6 p.m. Sunday at United Center
- John Dietz