Ducks 2 - 4 Blackhawks
Final
  for this game

Blackhawks down Ducks, end pair of Anaheim streaks

Jan 18, 2014 - 5:43 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Marian Hossa scored a pair of goals, including a key empty-net score in the final eight seconds, as Chicago put an end to a pair of Anaheim streaks of success with a 4-2 victory in a clash of the top teams in the West from United Center.

Bryan Bickell and Kris Versteeg added tallies for the Blackhawks, who pulled within four points of their Friday foes for the top seed in the conference.

Corey Crawford made 19 saves, winning for the first time since Nov. 29.

"I thought we had a great start and we played the way we wanted to play," said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville.

Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri lit the lamp for the Ducks, who were bidding to become the second team in NHL history to win 19 times in a 20-game span but fell short despite a late comeback.

Jonas Hiller lost for the first time since Dec. 3, ending his club-record win streak at 14 games and remaining tied with Tom Barrasso for the second-most consecutive wins in one season by a goaltender.

Bickell gave the hosts what seemed to be an iron-clad three-goal edge just after the midway point of the third. He was being chased down from behind on a breakaway by a Ducks defender, and managed to squeeze off a shot. The puck tipped into the air, off Hiller's arm and over the goal line.

Getzlaf's shot from the left circle beat Crawford under the crossbar to pull the Ducks within 3-1 at 13:47, and it was a one-goal contest when Palmieri's uncontested wrister from between the circles trickled home only 53 seconds later.

Anaheim went with an extra skater twice over the final minute-plus of regulation, but Hossa put the crucial insurance goal into the empty cage.

"We didn't come ready to play, to meet them," said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. "And maybe with all the press we've gotten in the last days some guys just weren't ready for this."

Hossa gave Chicago a 1-0 lead while shorthanded with 9:26 left in the first, taking a Jonathan Toews pass on the right wing and beating Hiller with a low, hard shot.

The Hawks went up by two inside of three minutes left before intermission. Versteeg lost a puck battle to the left of Hiller, but the Ducks defenseman had his clear batted towards the crease, and Versteeg slid it home inside the far post.

Game Notes

The 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens won 20 of 21 games ... Gilles Gilbert holds the NHL record, winning 17 straight starts for the Boston Bruins in 1975-76 ... Barrasso won 14 straight in March and April of 1993 ... Anaheim had beaten Chicago five straight times, including three in a row on Madison Avenue ... Prior to the contest, the Ducks announced that defenseman Sheldon Souray, out since offseason surgery on a right thumb ligament, will miss the remainder of the year after needing another procedure ... Hiller, who finished with 31 saves, lost for the first time in regulation since Nov. 26 against Dallas ... Versteeg left the game after colliding with Bickell late in the second period, suffering an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.






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