Vatrano gives Ducks OT win against Blackhawks

CHICAGO --Frank Vatrano scored at 2:15 of overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Isac Lundestrom circled the net and sent a pass across the slot to Vatrano, who scored on a backhand in the crease for his fifth goal in five games.
"It was actually a similar play we had early on in the year," Vatrano said. "Me and him, 4-on-4, same play. What a great play by 'Lundy' all around to hold onto that puck and find a lane for me."

Brett Leason and Jayson Megna each had a goal and an assist, John Klingberg had two assists, and Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves for the Ducks (17-29-6), who extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1).
Anaheim came off the bye week and All-Star break with a 3-2 shootout loss at the Dallas Stars on Monday.
"I think [it's] just mindset," Vatrano said. "You're obviously not going to feel too good even if you come off an eight-day break. A back to back is a back to back. This is a tough league no matter who you're playing against. Every night is a challenge. We knew we were going to have a tough challenge ahead, and we just kept our heads in it."
Jason Dickinson had a goal and an assist, and Petr Mrazek made 23 saves for the Blackhawks (15-29-5), who played for the first time since Jan. 28.
"Yeah, that one hurts," Dickinson said. "Felt like we should've won, but we let that get away from us."
Dickinson gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 1:36 of the second period. Patrick Kane picked up the puck in the right corner and fed Dickinson, who scored from the slot. It was his third straight game with a goal and fourth goal in six games
"Playing with 'Kaner' creates a lot of offense," Dickinson said. "So, when you're creating opportunities you start to feel really good and you get more touches. And it's a snowball effect. If you get more chances in the [offensive] zone, you start to feel good and you want the puck more and you want to do more with it, so it's been nice getting those opportunities."

Leason tied it 1-1 at 8:25, following his shot from the left face-off circle to score on the rebound with a backhand. Leason was scratched Monday and had not played since Jan. 19.
"It was great," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. "'Leas' had been out. He had not been playing before the break. I really wanted to get all of our guys in here right away. He played very well. That line was very, very good. Megna scores a goal. [Derek] Grant rings one off the crossbar. Leason's good. You would term that our fourth line, but tonight they were our best line."
Seth Jones put the Blackhawks ahead 2-1 at 13:09, taking a pass just inside the right circle from Dickinson on a rush.
"Yeah, I thought we outplayed them for three periods," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "That was probably the most [offensive]-zone time and rotation and movement that we've had all year. A couple of, maybe, line rushes a little too fancy, that extra pass. But their goalie made a few good saves, especially on Tyler Johnson on the one power play.
"He's a big goalie and he just played well and we just didn't have that killer instinct to put that third one in the first 60 minutes. I thought we could've been up maybe a couple of goals by then, but you have to shoot and you have to score to be up."
Megna tied it 2-2 at 15:42 when he intercepted Jones' pass from behind the net and scored from the right circle. It was his first goal since being claimed off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 6 and first NHL goal since Feb. 9, 2017, when he was with the Vancouver Canucks.

Eakins praised his team for hanging tough two nights in a row.
"That was like air coming out of a balloon there," he said. "I think the schedule is really tough for all the teams coming off the break. For us to come back and have to play back to back is extremely hard. It's one thing we have been this year is really resilient. We just kept our head down and kept swinging."
NOTES: Before the game, the Blackhawks paid tribute to Bobby Hull with a moment of silence and a highlight video. Hull, their all-time leading goal scorer (604), died Jan. 30 at age 84. … Grant was plus-1 in 11:04 after missing 26 games with a lower-body injury. He was in the lineup for Troy Terry, who sustained an upper-body injury Monday. … Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy played his 600th NHL game. … Johnson had an assist and four shots in 19:44 after missing three games with a left ankle injury. He replaced center Jonathan Toews, who is out with a non-COVID related illness.