Blackhawks Win Wild West Shootout With Coyotes

After scoring just one goal in their last two games, the Chicago Blackhawks’ offense exploded on Tuesday night as they beat the Arizona Coyotes 7-5 at Gila River Arena.

Andrew Desjardins scored two goals in the game, and Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith each registered a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks turned around their recent offensive struggles.

Coyotes captain Shane Doan did score three goals to record his second career hat trick and tie Dale Hawerchuk on the team’s all-time scoring list, but it wasn’t enough as the Blackhawks snapped their brief losing streak.

The game got off to a flying start for the Blackhawks as they scored late on an early power play. Kane dished a back-pass to Keith at the point, and the defenseman rifled a one-timer past Anders Lindback to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

A short time later, the Blackhawks got another power play, and they scored yet again. Artem Anisimov cycled the puck around the boards, and after it found its way to Brent Seabrook, the veteran forward created a screen in front and tipped a Seabrook shot past Lindback to make it 2-0.

On a rather innocuous looking play later in the period, the Coyotes got on the board. Doan did the honors as he flipped a puck toward the net that bounced unevenly on the ice, and Corey Crawford couldn’t keep it in front of him as it skipped into the net to make it a 2-1 contest.

The Coyotes weren’t done there, and they scored again to tie things up. Oliver Ekman-Larsson drove down below the goal line for Arizona, and fellow defenseman Zbynek Michalek came in from his defensive spot as well to fire a one-timer into the cage and knot things up at 2-2.

To finish off the scoring explosion in the period, the Blackhawks took the lead back. A give-and-go between Keith and Seabrook at the top of the zone created some separation in Arizona’s defense, and Artemi Panarin slid into the gap and ripped a wrist shot over Lindback to give Chicago a 3-2 lead after a wild 20 minutes of play.

The Coyotes switched goaltenders to start the second, bringing in Louis Domingue, but it didn’t matter as the Blackhawks scored again. This time it was Desjardins scoring, doing so from in close to put Chicago up 4-2.

Later in the period, the Blackhawks cycled the puck around the zone, and some deft passing gave them another goal. Kane was the recipient of good fortune on this trip down the ice, as Andrew Shaw made a lightning-quick pass across the zone, and before Domingue could shift in his crease, Kane fluttered a shot past the sprawling netminder to make it a 5-2 game.

In the third period, the Blackhawks tacked on another goal with about 15 minutes to go, but Arizona stormed back and cut into the Hawks’ four-goal edge. Doan scored his second goal of the game thanks to a great screen from Antoine Vermette, and a short time later Connor Murphy scored on a blistering shot off the inside of the post to make it a 6-4 game.

Fortunately for the Hawks, they were able to withstand the barrage, and goals from Jonathan Toews and Doan ended up cancelling each other out in the late stages to give Chicago the victory.

The Blackhawks will skate for the final time in 2015 on Thursday night when they head to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche.

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