CHICAGO _ The "circus trip" the Blackhawks used to go on at this time of year meant Patrick Kane was always out of town on his birthday.
So when Kane turned 31 on Tuesday, it was the first time he celebrated by playing a game at the United Center.
It nearly turned out to be a pretty wild celebration.
Erik Gustafsson and Connor Murphy scored goals 70 seconds apart late in the third period to pull the Hawks within a goal, but the Hurricanes held on for a 4-2 victory that snapped the Hawks' four-game winning streak.
Sebastian Aho's empty-netter with 17.6 seconds remaining ended the Hawks' chance at a comeback.
After making it 3-2, the Hawks had a power play and several excellent chances but couldn't get the equalizer past Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek.
Kane extended his point streak to 10 games with two assists, but his six-game goal streak ended as the Hurricanes beat the Hawks for the second time this season. They won 4-0 on Oct. 26 in Raleigh, N.C.
Kirby Dach assisted on Murphy's goal to give him a five-game point streak.
Kane nearly tied it with a little more than three minutes left as he took the puck up ice and split Dougie Hamilton and Jaccob Slavin, but Mrazek was able to get a pad on the puck as Kane tried to stuff it past him.
After being outshot 27-12 over the first two periods, the Hawks dominated the third and held a 20-6 shots edge.
The Hawks repeatedly left goalie Robin Lehner out to dry during the first two periods, giving up several breakaways, including two short-handed ones Lehner was able to stop.
But Martin Necas and Nino Neiderreiter scored on breakaways and Andrei Svechnikov scored on a deflected shot to give Lehner his first loss in four starts.
The Hurricanes dominated the first period but got pucks past Lehner only when the Hawks had a defensive collapse. Gustafsson fell at the offensive blue line and Duncan Keith moved up at the wrong moment, allowing Necas and Neiderreiter to take off on a two-on-zero from mid-ice.
Necas finished the breakaway to make it 1-0 with 5 minutes, 36 seconds left in the first period.
Svechnikov's 10th goal of the season made it 2-0 just 53 seconds into the second, and midway through the period Neiderreiter skated around Gustafsson and beat Lehner on a backhand for his third of the season.
The Hawks host the Lightning on Thursday.
