• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Lang's shootout goal gives Blackhawks third straight win

Jan 19, 2008 - 6:21 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- The Chicago Blackhawks apparently have righted the ship.

Robert Lang scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout as the Blackhawks extended their winning streak to three games with a 2-1 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

Rookie Patrick Kane scored in regulation and also tallied in the bonus format for Chicago, which dropped eight in a row from December 30-January 11.

"I think before, we were doing a lot of good things, but we just couldn't get the goal to win the hockey game," Blackhawks goaltender Patrick Lalime said. "We stuck to the system, and right now, it's little things after little things that build up and make you win the hockey game. I think everybody is committed to playing well defensively, and that's a big difference."

After each team tallied in the first 8:03 of the contest, neither was able to score again as Lalime and Jose Theodore of the Avalanche each made 22 saves over 65 minutes.

In the first round of the shootout, Lalime denied Marek Svatos' attempt to slip the puck between his pads before Kane gave Chicago the edge, making several deft stickhandling moves before sliding the puck past Theodore.

Following a scoreless second round, Milan Hejduk kept alive Colorado's hopes by firing the puck between the legs of Lalime. Patrick Sharp, who signed a four-year contract extension on Thursday, and Avalanche rookie T.J. Hensick failed to convert their chances, setting the stage for Lang.

The veteran Czech halted Colorado's three-game winning streak when he wristed a shot that beat Theodore to the stick side.

"It's always nice to be in that position, and if it works out, it's even sweeter," Lang said. "I've been there when I didn't score and it wasn't as nice, but hey, that's the game. Today, I made a good shot and it went in, game over."

"I know he likes to shoot a lot," Theodore said. "I didn't expect him to go low blocker, so it kind of caught me off-guard there a little bit."

The tally also prevented the former Vezina and Hart Trophy-winning netminder, who was making his seventh straight start, from recording his first four-game winning stretch since October 31-November 8, 2005 while with the Montreal Canadiens.

"I thought we played real well. We played solid," Theodore said. "In shootouts, you never know what's going to happen, so I think we did the right thing tonight."

Chicago opened the scoring just 2:31 into the first period.

Martin Havlat gathered a loose puck in his own zone and found Kane streaking up the middle of the ice. The Czech placed a perfect pass right on Kane's stick, and the 19-year-old made a great move, wristing a shot that beat Theodore for his 12th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

"I just jumped off the bench and Havlat hit me right in the middle, all alone," Kane said. "I looked up and I saw his glove side. I decided to take a shot and, lucky for me, it went in."

Kane, who leads all rookies in scoring with 44 points, has three tallies in his last two games.

The slim advantage did not last long, however, as Andrew Brunette gathered the rebound of Jaroslav Hlinka's shot and deposited the puck past Lalime at 8:03 to forge a 1-1 tie. The goal was Brunette's third in as many contests.

Other than the lapse on Kane's tally, Colorado defenseman Scott Hannan believed his team did a good job limiting Chicago's chances, something necessary with top offensive players Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth and Paul Stastny sidelined.

"Overall, we played a great game defensively," Hannan said. "We had some opportunities, and that's the way it goes sometimes. ... We controlled the play in overtime, and when you go to a shootout, it's a little different. If we can play like that every night, we can win some games. We have to play strong defense right now."