RECAP: Blackhawks Down Ducks, 4-2

Dominik Kubalik propelled the Blackhawks to a 4-2 win to close out a four-game homestand on Saturday night.
Kubalik scored twice to extend his goal streak to four straight games, Jonathan Toews netted two points (1G, 1A) and Patrick Kane notched his 995th career point, his sixth straight game finding the scoresheet. Robin Lehner stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced for his 13th win on the season.

CHI 4, ANA 2
WRITTEN
Full Box Score
THREE THINGS: Dominant Dominik, Red-Hot Toews and Day Shift
RELEASE: Blackhawks Re-Assign Quenneville
VIDEO
HIGHLIGHTS: CHI 4, ANA 2
RAW: Colliton on Win Over ANA
RAW: Kubalik on Two-Goal Night
RAW: Lehner on Return, Win
GALLERY
GALLERY: Blackhawks vs. Ducks
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kubalik's two-goal game brings his scoring total to five in his last four outings and 13 points (8G, 5A) in his last 11 games. His 16 on the year are now tied for the rookie lead in goals.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Playing in his 200th NHL game, Erik Gustafsson's 0.54 career points/game ranks eighth all-time in Blackhawks history for defenseman with at least 200 games under their belt.
UP NEXT: Chicago embarks on a three-game road trip through Canada beginning on Tuesday night in Ottawa.

GAME RECAP

The Ducks got on the board early in the first as Ondrej Kase forced a turnover behind the Blackhawks' net and slid a backhand pass to Max Jones in front, who beat Lehner on the far side for a 1-0 Anaheim lead at 3:37.
Toews nearly knotted things up a few minutes later with a shot that rang off the post and stayed out, but made up for it at the 8:13 makr of the opening period. The captain picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and walked in on the left side, beating John Gibson five-hole with a wrister for his 11th goal of the season to tied the game, 1-1.

Early in the second period, following a re-group in the neutral zone, Toews brought the puck back into the offensive end and found Kane streaking towards the net in the slot. No. 88 put a quick backhander high on goal that Gibson got in front of, but Kubalik was there to tap home the rebound for his 15th goal of the season at 4:20 of the middle frame, giving the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead.

Kubalik would put home his second rebound of the night five minutes later after forcing a turnover to re-gain possession in the Ducks' end. Kane picked up the loose puck in the coner and found Zack Smith on the dot. Smith then sent the puck to the point for a Connor Murphy shot and Kubalik tapped the rebound between the legs of Gibson from the edge of the paint for a 3-1 lead at 12:21.

The Ducks pulled back within one with an early goal in the third as Rickard Rakell put home his own rebound in tight off the leg of Lehner at 2:29, cutting Chicago's lead to 3-2.
Olli Maatta answered back with authority just 90 seconds later to re-gain the Blackhawks' two-goal lead. Off a zone entry, Alex DeBrincat sent a puck back to the point that the defenseman stepped into for a one-timer that whistled past the ear of Gibson and into the top corner for a 4-2 lead at 3:59.

The Blackhawks sustained over two minutes of 6-on-5 action late in the game with Gibson on the bench for the extra Anaheim attacker to seal a 4-2 win at the United Center.