Stars defeat Blackhawks, sweep season series

CHICAGO --The Dallas Stars defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 at United Center on Thursday to sweep the season series for the first time since 2005-06.
"I thought we beat a desperate hockey club, a club that played very well," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We didn't play our best game but the most important player on the ice was our best player. The goalie was great. ... This is one of the hardest buildings in the world to play in, and when you come and win both games in this building it's a pretty good feeling."

Tyler Seguin scored two goals to give him five in the past four games, Stephen Johns and Tyler Pitlick also scored, and Ben Bishop made 37 saves for the Stars (32-19-4), who won their fourth straight game.
\[WATCH: All Stars vs. Blackhawks highlights\]
"Definitely not our best performance throughout the lineup but I think it's a great thing that we still found a way to get two points," Seguin said. "That's a playoff-type game where it's not going to be perfect, it's not going to be the prettiest, but we found a way."
Jonathan Toews and Artem Anisimov scored for the Blackhawks (24-22-8), who lost their fourth straight (0-3-1) and sixth in a row at home (0-5-1). Anton Forsberg made 26 saves.
Pitlick scored with 4.5 seconds left in the second period to put the Stars up 3-2 when his slap shot from the top of the face-off circle got past Forsberg.
"It's disappointing to let in a goal especially in that time of the game," Forsberg said. "It's four seconds left in the period and it's a 2-2 game before that so that's what we lose the game on."
Seguin scored into an empty net at 19:02 of the third period to make it 4-2.

The Stars scored two goals in 59 seconds in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Seguin extended his goal streak to a season-long four games when he tied it 1-1 at 5:44, and Johns scored his seventh at 6:43.
"Getting a goal at any time is huge," Johns said. "Getting two in a row there kind of takes the wind out of their sails. They're not a team that -- I think we all agree -- shouldn be where they are in the standings. That's a hell of a team over there and their history's proven it. We knew it was going to be a playoff-like game and they were good."
Anisimov scored his first goal since Dec. 10 (14 games) to tie it 2-2 at 12:48. It was the third straight game the Blackhawks scored a power-play goal.
Toews gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead when his wrist shot beat Bishop at 9:07 of the first period to end an 11-game goal drought.

Goal of the game

Pitlick's goal at 19:55 of the second period.

Save of the game

Bishop's save on Nick Schmaltz at 19:31 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Seguin's goal at 5:44 of the second period.

They said it

"It's a big win. On a tough back-to-back, obviously we've got Pittsburgh at home waiting for us so it was important to get that first win, get those two points, and then get ready for tomorrow." -- Stars goalie Ben Bishop
"First period we were OK. I thought we had our best period in a while in the second period and we gave up three goals. So that was one of those games where I think it turned probably on the goal at the end of the period." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville

Need to know

Stars defenseman Julius Honka left in the second period with an upper-body injury after taking a hit along the boards. Hitchcock said he will be evaluated on Friday. ... Stars forward Martin Hanzal left in the second period after taking a puck to the knee, but returned in the third. ... Quenneville said it's unclear whether goalie Corey Crawford will join the Blackhawks for their three-game trip.

What's next

Stars: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-SW, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: At the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)