For much of their game with the Arizona Coyotes, the Chicago Blackhawks were caught in a nightmare of trying to find a path to getting a win and two precious points in their race in the Central Division.
It was anything but a masterpiece as the Hawks finally separated themselves from the 
Coyotes with three goals in the third period; but even that wasn’t easy.
“We had an OK first period, a below-average second and a real good third,” Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “Lot of good things in that period. Seemed like we had a little bit more pace and jump to our game.”
Corey Crawford kept Chicago in the game and made 31 saves to pick up the win.
“He’s played great for us,” Patrick Kane said. “We put ourselves in some tough positions, some shifts and he’s there to bail us out. Another good performance by him.”
Tommy Wingels broke a scoreless tie in the third period but the Coyotes responded with a goal from Anthony Duclair.
“I’m just staying with it,” Wingels said. “Our line struggled a bit throughout the game; first period, second period wasn’t where we wanted to be. But you get an opportunity in the third period to make a difference every shift, whether it’s to create energy, drawing a penalty or scoring a big goal. Recently our line’s been able to do that, the past two games we’ve executed there. Certainly feels good to score. I think everybody in this game plays to score and at the end of the night when your team wins and you score, there’s something to feel good about.”
The win was the second straight for the Hawks after going 0-3-2.
Artem Anisimov struck for the game-winner shortly after Duclair and that goal deflated the Coyotes.
“We’ve got to learn how to play under pressure,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “I think Chicago had seven chances after like 15 minutes and they got that goal there to go ahead and we got it back with five minutes left and then, under pressure again.”
Nick Schmaltz closed the scoring to make the final, 3-1.
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Scott Wedgewood took the loss on 34 saves.
“I think both goalies were playing well, both teams were playing well. Just minor mistakes, caused us to start chasing and then we had to take chances to kind of get back in the game and it kind of opened it up and became more of their style, their freedom to play pond hockey,” Wedgewood said.
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