The fourth and final meeting of the season between the Hawks and Avalanche _ all of which took place over the last 23 days _ ended in dramatically different fashion to the first three with the Hawks erupting for four third-period goals Saturday in a 5-3 victory at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Dominik Kubalik's 10th goal completed a comeback from a 3-1 third-period deficit to give the Hawks their first win over the Avs after being outscored 16-6 in the first three meetings. It was the first time in 15 games this season the Hawks won when trailing after two periods.
After being outmatched in the first three meetings, the Hawks on Saturday delivered on what Duncan Keith talked about earlier in the week when he said they needed to play "a little pissed off."
Trailing 3-1 entering the third, the Hawks roared back when Patrick Kane and Kirby Dach scored 28 seconds apart midway through the period.
After Kane scored his 20th of the season, Dach used his long reach to corral pass from Erik Gustafsson and sweep the puck into the net at a nearly impossible angle.
With 3 minutes, 17 seconds remaining, Jonathan Toews found Kubalik in the slot, and he buried a wrist shot past Philipp Grubauer to give the Hawks their first lead. Connor Murphy's empty-netter sealed the Hawks' third win in their last four.
The expected battle between Alex DeBrincat and Samuel Girard never materialized. But both teams played a physical game, especially in a wildly entertaining second period.
Keith put a crunching hit on Joonas Donskoi, and Dennis Gilbert fought Gabriel Landeskog in a long scrap that ended in a draw. It was Gilbert's third fight in nine games.
Ryan Graves had the only goal of the first period, but the Hawks tied it 21 seconds into the second on Toews' eighth of the season.
