CHICAGO — Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat scored early in the second period, helping the Chicago Blackhawks flip the switch after a lackluster first period and shock the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, on Tuesday at the United Center.
Strome’s goal came in his first game back after taking a game off to welcome a baby girl, Weslie Margaret Strome, to his family. It was Strome’s second goal — and point — in his last 12 games.
It started with Connor Murphy cutting off a pass in the neutral zone at the wall and knocking the puck to Kirby Dach, who chopped it ahead to a streaking Strome. Strome dribbled the puck a little before zipping it under Alex Nedeljkovic’s arm to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the second.
DeBrincat followed with a tip-in power-lay goal off Patrick Kane’s assist 3 1/2 minutes later.
It was a surprising shift in momentum, with the Hawks finding a way to beat pressure after the Canes dominated the first period. The Hawks won for just the third time in nine games.
The Hurricanes’ speed and forechecking immediately gave the Hawks problems.
The Canes’ neutral-zone press made it hard for the Hawks to get clean entries into the offensive zone. Kirby Dach’s shifts with Mattias Janmark and Dylan Strome accounted for four of the Hawks’ first five shots on goal.
And when the Hawks were on defense, the Canes turned back pucks to keep them in their zone.
Kevin Lankinen was busy on his end, turning away 13 shots in the first. The Canes had seven high-danger scoring chances in the period and 11 scoring chances overall, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. But they couldn’t do anything with them.
However, with 4:19 left in the second, Vincent Trocheck won an offensive faceoff, Brady Skjei circled around Hawks defenders and took a sharp-angle blast, which Andrei Svechnikov redirected into the far side of the net for his 10th goal of the season.
The Hawks met the level of the Canes’ pressure in the third period and withstood a sixth attacker when the Canes pulled Nedeljkovic.
Lankinen had 31 saves while his counterpart had just 14, with the Hurricanes outshooting the Hawks 32-16.
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