The Chicago Blackhawks’ Troy Brouwer scored early in overtime to give Chicago a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks in a Western Conference showdown on Thursday.
Brouwer, who also scored in regulation, delivered a game-winning wrist shot at 1:37 in overtime after the Blackhawks had squandered a 3-0 lead.
“Toward the end of the third period, we were getting chances and we got some momentum,” Brouwer told reporters. “We really felt like we were going to win that game going into overtime.”
Dustin Byfuglien, Brouwer and Andrew Ladd had given the Central division leaders a 3-0 lead by 8:23 of the first period before the Sharks fought back.
San Jose’s (35-10-9) Joe Pavelski scored midway through the first to cut the deficit to 3-1, and again late in the second to narrow the Hawks’ lead to one.
Manny Malhotra forced the extra session with a tip-in at 4:56 in the third.
“The start was unacceptable,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “We’re all going to talk about how hard we fought and that we worked our way back into the game. But that start was unacceptable. The mistakes we made in the first five minutes of the game — that’s not a characteristic of ours.”
Despite the shaky start, Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov finished with 35 saves while Cristobal Huet had 34 stops for the Blackhawks (37-13-4), who moved within one point of San Jose for the top spot in the overall NHL standings.
With the loss, the Sharks had their five-game winning streak snapped. Chicago improved to 5-2-0 on its road trip which ends today.
SENATORS 4, PENGUINS 1
In Pittsburgh, Ottawa matched a club record winning streak of eight with a defeat of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Brian Elliot made 30 saves, while Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno scored for the Senators, who matched the Washington Capitals for the NHL’s longest active winning streak.
Elliott has been in the nets for the last six Senators victories, allowing only six goals during that span.
Evgeni Malkin scored after just 1:34 in for the Penguins, whose lead over the Senators for fourth place in the Eastern Conference was trimmed to three points.
THRASHERS 4, FLYERS 3
In Philadelphia, Jim Slater’s second goal of the game lifted Atlanta over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Thrashers came from a 3-1 deficit to hand Philadelphia its first loss this season when up after two periods. The Flyers were 22-0.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Rich Peverley also scored for the Thrashers, who moved a point ahead of the Flyers, who entered the night in a four-way tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
COYOTES 3, FLAMES 2, SO
In Glendale, Arizona, Phoenix blew a two-goal, second-period lead, but recovered to inflict the Calgary Flames’ ninth straight loss.
Robert Lang and Lauri Korpikoski scored in the shootout for the Coyotes, after Keith Yandle and Shane Doan had given them an early lead in regulation.
Phoenix earned its 31st win of the season in its 54th game, the fastest the Coyotes have reached that total in the 30-year history of the franchise.
Mark Giordano and rookie Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames, who are in their longest losing streak since dropping 11 straight in 1985 to 1986.
WILD 1, AVALANCHE 0
In Denver, Martin Havlat’s late goal saw the Minnesota Wild inflict Colorado’s first loss in 20 days.
Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson was going for his third shutout in four games, but his shutout streak ended at 126 minutes, 24 seconds.
The Wild have won five of six games against the Avalanche this season.
KINGS 4, BLUE JACKETS 1
In Columbus, Ohio, Anze Kopitar scored his 100th and 101st career goals as Los Angeles downed the Columbus Blue Jackets to tie a season high with its fourth straight win.
Matt Greene and Ryan Smyth also scored for the Kings, who have won five straight on the road.
Columbus’ Antoine Vermette scored his 17th goal of the season midway through the third period.
HURRICANES 4, ISLANDERS 1
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Cam Ward made 26 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes defeat New York.
New captain Eric Staal scored his third goal in two games as the Hurricanes won a third straight. Matt Cullen, Stephane Yelle and Jussi Jokinen also found the net for the hosts.
In other NHL action, it was:
• Blues 2, Oilers 1
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