Panarin gets hat trick, Blackhawks top Rangers

NEW YORK -- It's hard to imagine this is the type of season Chicago Blackhawks brass envisioned they'd get from Artemi Panarin, an undrafted player who never played in North America prior to last fall.
But the 24-year-old had his first NHL hat trick, including the game-winning goal with 3:00 remaining, to help the Blackhawks to a 5-3 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Panarin, who had to battle just to make the Blackhawks' roster out of training camp, scored Chicago's third power-play goal of the game late in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. He completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal 1:49 later.
Andrew Shaw erased a one-goal deficit earlier in the third period and Andrew Desjardins had a first-period goal for Chicago (38-18-5), which faces the Minnesota Wild at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday as part of the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. Corey Crawford made 31 saves.
"He's been good for us this year," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said of Panarin, who leads all rookies with 22 goals and 57 points. "Tonight, he scored a big goal with the second unit that went out for the power play. He wants to score and when he finally gets a few here tonight, he plays with so much more confidence and energy. When he goes out there, things happen every single shift. You saw that again tonight."
Kevin Hayes, Derick Brassard and Dan Boyle scored for New York (32-19-6), which lost in regulation at home for the first time since Dec. 20 despite going 2-for-2 on the power play. Henrik Lundqvist, who was 8-0-1 (including six wins in a row) in his previous nine home games, made 15 saves.

"You just have to forget it," Lundqvist said. "It doesn't matter win or lose, you move on and you start over tomorrow. I think you analyze this one quickly. I thought we played a really strong game, it's just their power play killed us. Five-on-5, our power play, it was really good."
Chicago opened the scoring 3:30 into the game. Desjardins outmuscled Boyle in front of the net and redirected Teuvo Teravainen's feed from the right corner past Lundqvist to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers thought they had tied the game at 1:52 of the second period when defenseman Dan Girardi beat Crawford with a slap shot from the right point. But Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville challenged that Crawford was interfered with, and replays concluded forward Chris Kreider made contact with the Blackhawks goaltender.
Panarin extended Chicago's lead with a power-play goal at 10:05 of the second. After Kreider took an offensive-zone holding penalty, Panarin took a pass from Erik Gustafsson and beat a screened Lundqvist with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 2-0. It was Panarin's 20th goal of the season.
"He's been great for us," Quenneville said of Panarin. "The consistency, the contribution to that line, our power play, our puck possession game, our offense … from Day One, he's been fun to watch. He's enjoying himself here. [Kane], they make each other better as well. We saw some real highlight plays and they all contributed. [Panarin] quietly goes about his business."
Hayes got the Rangers on the board with his 10th goal of the season at 13:45 of the second period. New York capitalized after Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival failed to clear the puck out of the zone, and Oscar Lindberg sent a pass in front to Hayes, who one-timed it past Crawford to make it 2-1. Hayes has three goals in his past four games.
Lundqvist kept it a one-goal game with under five minutes left in the second period, denying Teravainen's wrist shot from the left circle and Brandon Mashinter's rebound chance on the doorstep during a 2-on-0.
New York received a four-minute power play when Blackhawks forward Vincent Hinostroza got his stick up in the face of Rangers center Dominic Moore at 19:34 of the second period.

The Rangers converted on the power play when Brassard scored his 20th goal of the season 24 seconds into the third period. Brassard took a pass from Keith Yandle and let go a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Crawford under the crossbar to make it 2-2.
With Hinostroza still in the box, Boyle then gave New York its first lead of the game at 2:17. Hayes sent a pass from behind the net in front to Boyle, who failed to stuff it past Crawford on his first attempt but jammed the rebound over the goal line. It was Boyle's first goal since Dec. 30, a span of 18 games.
"We played a good game," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "In my mind, we outshot them, outchanced them. We had some good offensive-zone time. Unfortunately on our PK, we made three bad reads and the puck ended up in the back of the net. We definitely need to be better than that, especially on a night like tonight where the power play comes up big for us.
"We're down by a goal after two great periods, the power play comes up big. We've got to find a way to be able to get it done."
Shaw tied it with a power-play goal at 9:53 of the third. After Rangers forward Viktor Stalberg was whistled for holding, Shaw put Teravainen's cross-ice feed past Lundqvist to make it 3-3.
Panarin put the Blackhawks back in front at 17:00 with Chicago's third power-play goal in four opportunities. With Yandle in the box for holding, Panarin one-timed Patrick Kane's feed from behind the net past Lundqvist to give Chicago a 4-3 lead. He completed the hat trick with 1:11 left with an empty-net goal.
"He's a special player," Kane said of Panarin. "He's got a good shot. He's good with the puck. It's good to see him get rewarded for his good play too. He's been a great fit for us. He's one of those players that's maybe exceeded some expectations coming in. Great find by the organization. We're happy to have him here."

Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games because of a concussion. Defenseman Marc Staal did not play; the Rangers announced during the game that his wife delivered their second child, a daughter.
New York visits the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.