Panarin Scores Twice as Blackhawks Win Fifth Straight Game

 For the second time in two days, the Chicago Blackhawks knocked off the Pittsburgh Penguins as they notched a 3-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Artemi Panarin scored two goals for the Blackhawks for the second consecutive game, and it was enough to get the victory as the Hawks grabbed their fifth straight win and sixth in their last seven games.

The Blackhawks generated a lot of pressure early on in the game, and their defense made sure to keep Pittsburgh out of the offensive zone as they denied a shot to the visitors through the first eight minutes of the game. Erik Gustafsson had a big-time shot early in the contest that was stopped by Marc Andre-Fleury, and then Andrew Shaw was denied on a breakaway attempt.

Near the end of the period, the Blackhawks’ second line created a lengthy possession, and they were able to score. After a pass from Patrick Kane, Panarin circled around the offensive zone, found an opening, and ripped a shot over Fleury’s blocker to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.

Early in the second period, the Blackhawks continued to generate scoring chances, but Pittsburgh slowly started to turn the tide in the game. Scott Darling faced a 2-on-1 rush shorthanded, but he was able to pokecheck a pass from Nick Bonino away. Sidney Crosby then deked the puck around Duncan Keith in the offensive zone, but Darling made the save on that play as well.

Unfortunately, the Penguins were able to finally hit paydirt as they scored later in the period. Patrick Hornqvist provided a big screen in front of Darling, and Evgeni Malkin did the rest as the sniper ripped a slap shot past the goaltender to knot things up at 1-1.

In the third period, the Blackhawks continued their defensive dominance, and they eventually were able to translate that into offensive production as they took the lead with 11 minutes to go. On a face-off in the offensive zone, the puck stayed in the dot, and Panarin came in to quickly fire a shot past Fleury’s glove to make it a 2-1 contest.

The Penguins weren’t able to get anything going in the final stages of the game, and Teuvo Teravainen scored on an empty netter to seal the victory for Chicago.

The Blackhawks will put their five game winning streak on the line Friday night as they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to the United Center.

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