Athanasiou, Blackhawks rally past Senators in OT to end 3-game skid

OTTAWA -- Andreas Athanasiou scored at 2:52 of overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks rallied with three straight goals for a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.

Athanasiou tapped in a cross-crease pass from Tyler Johnson on a 2-on-1 rush for the game-winner.
"I think we just stuck with it, stuck with it together," Athanasiou said. "We kind of just chipped away and didn't try to make any crazy plays. We just kind of put our nose down, didn't say much and just worked and found a way."
Sam Lafferty cut it to 3-2 at 10:49 of the third period, scoring glove side on Mads Sogaard on a short-handed breakaway before Patrick Kane tied it 3-3 at 16:55, shooting on a 2-on-1 rush and beating Sogaard blocker side with a wrist shot.
"I just thought we never really gave up," Kane said. "Even down 3-1, we had a good attitude on the bench. The first period was good, second period was not, and then the third, obviously being down 3-1 you don't have much life. But you get a short-handed breakaway and then all of a sudden it's 3-2 out of nowhere, and you feel like you have a chance."

Kane scored twice, Max Domi and Jake McCabe each had two assists and Petr Mrazek made 28 saves for the Blackhawks (17-32-5), who had lost three in a row.
"I always just enjoy going into that room after the game and watching them have some fun when they win," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "The players deserve it. I thought they played a really good start of the game and then finish of the game. I think we can clean up that second period, but the way they persevered to come back from two goals down on the road after a long road trip, that shows a lot of guts from our team."
Brady Tkachuk scored for the third straight game, and Claude Giroux and Shane Pinto also scored for the Senators (26-24-4), who had won three in a row. Sogaard made 28 saves in his second start since being recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Feb. 9.
"Definitely going to be talking to [Sogaard] after that one," said Tkachuk, who is Ottawa captain. "It's not even remotely close to his fault. We just made too many turnovers to finish off the game."

Ottawa is without its top two goaltenders due to injury (
Anton Forsberg
, MCL tears in both knees; Cam Talbot, lower body).
"I'm the last line of defense," Sogaard said, "and I've got to step up and make a save. And I didn't, so I'll go back and work hard tomorrow."
Kane gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the first period after taking a cross-slot pass from Domi, waiting out a sliding Sogaard and scoring with a far side wrist shot.
"You get that guy the puck in a prime scoring position, there's a good chance it's going in," Athanasiou said of Kane. "He had a couple good chances tonight and both of them went in. Obviously when your best player's on fire like that in the game, it's a good feeling."

Pinto tied it 1-1 at 7:31 of the second period, tipping in a Derick Brassard point shot.
Giroux put the Senators ahead 2-1 at 2:11 of the third when he took a seam pass from DeBrincat on the rush and finished a backhand deke five-hole on Mrazek.
"It's the NHL," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said, "and if you lay off the gas just for a second, that's what happens."

Tkachuk extended it to 3-1 at 4:53, finishing a tic-tac-toe passing play with Drake Batherson and
Tim Stutzle
on the rush. Tkachuk has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past five games.
"I think we're just frustrated right now," Giroux said. "Anytime you have a 3-1 lead, you want to be a team that knows how to shut teams down."
NOTES: The Senators
retired Chris Neil's No. 25
before the game. ... Kane moved into sole possession of third place all-time in points among U.S.-born players with 1,217, passing Jeremy Roenick (1,216). Alex DeBrincat had an assist for the Senators in his first game against his former team. He had 307 points (160 goals, 147 assists) in 368 games for Chicago (2017-2022). ... The Blackhawks have won nine in a row against the Senators. … Batherson set an NHL career high with his 45th point of the season.