PITTSBURGH _ Few things in the Blackhawks season have been as mercurial, frustrating and head-scratching as the Blackhawks' power play.
For a chunk of this season, it was futile, which is baffling, given the amount of skill the Hawks have on their power-play units.
On Saturday, it was equal parts maddening and prolific, and fortunately for the Hawks, it was more prolific than maddening by the end of the night.
After relinquishing a lead on a short-handed goal in the third period, Hawks center Artem Anisimov continued his hot streak with a power-play goal that boosted the Hawks to a 2-1 victory at PPG Paints Arena. Unlike the season opener against the Penguins, this wasn't a 10-1 masterpiece this, but the Hawks aren't complaining after winning for the third time in their last four games.
Anismov made an impressive play on which he snatched the puck from behind the net and contorted his body just enough to get a shot past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray 8 minutes, 21 seconds into the third. It came just 21 seconds after Matt Hunwick tied the score 1-1 for the Penguins when he scored off a lucky shot that deflected past Corey Crawford off the stick of Duncan Keith.
Getting two power-play goals was enough of a surprise, but the Hawks also got help from another unlikely source _ a coach's challenge. Joel Quenneville hasn't had the best record with those, and some have resulted in drawing Quenneville's ire after games, but on Saturday he got his way.
The Penguins appeared to tie it 2-2 on a shot from Jake Guentzel at 11:33 but Quenneville successfully challenged that Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta interfered with Crawford.
The Hawks got their first power-play goal of the night during a strong first period in which they controlled play. After the Hawks had a flurry of shots that failed to get past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray, Murray allowed a soft goal from Hawks defenseman Gustav Forsling.
After a Jonathan Toews faceoff win, Alex DeBrincat grabbed the puck and slid it over to Forsling, who went five-hole on Murray to score his second goal of the season. DeBrincat's sixth assist extended his point streak to four games.
The Hawks had a couple of injury scares in the second period, but made it out of that 20 minutes with their roster still intact.
Defenseman Connor Murphy exited briefly after blocking a shot, but the major concern came when Evgeni Malkin collided with Crawford in a chilling moment at 8:43. Malkin's thigh appeared to make contact with Crawford's head, sending Crawford backward onto the ice and Malkin to the penalty box for goaltender interference.
Crawford remained there and had a lengthy conversation with head athletic trainer Mike Gapski after getting up. Gapski ordered Crawford back into the Hawks' room for further evaluation of a potential concussion, and Anton Forsberg briefly entered the game. But Crawford wasn't out for long. He re-entered the game 2:52 later.
