CHICAGO _ It may not have felt like a playoff atmosphere at the United Center on Thursday night, but the Blackhawks' 4-3 overtime victory over the Canucks had playoff implications.
Jonathan Toews' overtime goal with 1 minute, 39 seconds left gave the Hawks their sixth straight victory and moved them within two points of the final Western Conference wild-card playoff spot with four teams to pass.
Rookie sensation Elias Pettersson scored a power-play goal with 1:52 left in the third period to tie the score and salvage a point for the Canucks, who dropped into a tie with the Blues for that last playoff spot.
Alex DeBrincat scored his 27th and 28th goals to match the total from his rookie season with 27 games to play. Patrick Kane assisted DeBrincat's first goal to extend his point streak to 13 games.
Dylan Strome had assists on both of DeBrincat's goals, giving him 25 points in 32 games since joining the Hawks. He had 16 points in 48 career games before arriving in a November trade with the Coyotes.
Hawks goalie Collin Delia made 40 saves for his third straight victory.
The Hawks' power play remained scorching with a pair of tallies on their first two opportunities. DeBrincat's first goal came with 2:01 left in the first period on a two-man advantage. Brandon Saad's 18th of the season 59 seconds later put the Hawks ahead 2-0.
The Canucks put up a couple of quick goals of their own early in the second period, with Alex Biega and Josh Leivo scoring 2:21 apart to tie the score.
