In Chicago, the Blackhawks recovered from a third period let down and defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, on Tuesday night.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 42 saves for Chicago in the win.
Jeff Carter scored twice for the Pens in the third period to force extra time and then the skills competition.
“Winning makes everything better,” Chicago’s Seth Jones (goal) said. “But it comes at a price, and that’s hard work. I think we’ve started doing the little things, as you can see, in our game in the defensive zone, blocking more shots, stopping a defensive zone, winning more puck battles to create battles in the neutral zone. And once we’re in the offensive zone, it’s easy.
“You can be creative, but you have to put the work in the other two zones first, and I think that’s what’s making us successful these last couple of games.”
Alex DeBrincat was credited with the deciding goal.
Pittsburgh dropped to 4-3-4.
“That was a great response by our team,” Penguins assistant coach Todd Reirden said. “I don’t think we were overly pleased with how the first two periods went. I thought our urgency and desperation went to a different level. That was one of our stronger periods of the year. I was really happy with our third period.”
Jujhar Khaira scored early in the middle frame to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
“There’s a lot of stuff we can clean up, for sure,” King said. “We get a lead like that, and we’re cruising along and cruising along. It’s that sitting back. Hopefully we can weather the storm, get the win and get out of here. We need to learn how to play with a lead and not sit back.”
Tristan Jarry made 30 saves in the Pens loss.
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