Blackhawks top Senators, Forsberg makes five saves in shootout

CHICAGO --Anton Forsberg made 32 saves, seven in overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a shootout at United Center on Wednesday.
Forsberg made five saves, and Nick Schmaltz scored the winner in the shootout, which went seven rounds.

"Obviously a lot of guys in this room are used to winning, and no one like losing," Blackhawks forward Nick Schmaltz said. "To get that good feeling in the locker room and get a win for our goaltender who really played well tonight, it's good to see that, and especially to get another win on home ice. We're trying to get better and better at home here."
WATCH: [All Senators vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Chicago is 14-14-3 at United Center.
Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and Artem Anisimov scored for the Blackhawks (26-27-8), who won for the second time in three games after losing eight in a row (0-7-1). Chicago trails the Minnesota Wild by 11 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We need every point we can get at this point," Kane said. "There's still belief in this locker room. Obviously we need to go on quite a run and have a big record down the stretch, but we'll take it one game at a time. Nice to get two points."
Zack Smith and Matt Duchene scored, and Mike Condon made 36 saves for the Senators (21-28-10), who trail the Columbus Blue Jackets by 13 points for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.
"We definitely could have come up with the win," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "So it's a hard-fought game. I like the way we battled back, we came back twice. It's a very good night. Our players played good. Second, third and overtime was great, and I think we've just got to keep that up."

Duchene tied it at 2-2 at 12:01 of the second period when he sent a 35-foot wrist shot past Forsberg that redirected off defenseman Jordan Oesterle's leg.
Anisimov gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 5:52 of the second period with his second goal in three games and 16th of the season. He tipped home a pass from Kane, who found him from just outside the top of the left face-off circle.
"Kind of made a little tight turn there and found a little space," Kane said. "It seemed like their defenseman was at the hashmarks, just tried to fire it back door. It was nice to see that one go in."
Kane made it 1-0 at 14:19 of the first period when he scored on a rebound after taking a drop pass from Vinnie Hinostroza.
The Senators responded 1:37 later when Smith tapped in his fifth goal of the season to make it 1-1.

Goal of the game

Kane's goal at 14:19 of the first period.

Save of the game

Forsberg's save on Derick Brassard at 3:23 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Anisimov's goal at 5:52 of the second period.

They said it

"It was a fun game, always fun playing here, great atmosphere from the anthem, they put on a good show. ... A fun night overall, wish I would've made a couple more saves in the shootout, but I thought the guys played a hard game. Tough playing in this building." -- Senators goalie Mike Condon
"Big win the other night against [the] Washington [Capitals], and then we came back and followed it up with a dud against [the Los Angeles Kings]. Big win again tonight. Let's be ready to play the next game against [the] San Jose [Sharks] and try to get something going here." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane

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Need to know

The Senators were involved in a minor bus accident on their way to United Center. ... Senators forward Mark Stone, who had two assists, has one goal and four assists in a three-game point streak. ... Kane scored his second goal in three games after having one in his previous 12. He has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past six games against the Senators dating to the 2015-16 season. … Chicago's Joel Quenneville coached his 1,600th NHL game. He ranks third all-time behind Scotty Bowman (2,141) and Al Arbour (1,607). Quenneville is 877-514-132 with 77 ties, and 439-231-91 in 10 seasons with the Blackhawks.

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What's next

Senators:Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, SUN, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks:Host the San Jose Sharks on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; WGN, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)