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Seabrook's two goals help Blackhawks edge Oilers

Dec 24, 2007 - 4:14 AM By Rory Spears PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) - Defenseman Brent Seabrook and the Chicago Blackhawks felt right at home against the Edmonton Oilers.

Seabrook scored twice as the Blackhawks rallied to defeat the Oilers, 3-2, on Sunday.

Patrick Sharp scored a game-tying goal and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin made 11 of his 25 saves in the final period for Chicago, which has won three in a row and has beaten Edmonton three straight times here.

"You never want to lose games but defeats early this month taught us some lessons," Sharp said. "Ottawa is at the top of the standings and Edmonton is at the other end of the standings, but our game was just as tough tonight as last night. We are a young team and we are excited to play and excited to win."

After the Blackhawks stunned Ottawa, 4-3, in overtime on Saturday for their second consecutive victory, they rallied from a first-period deficit on Sunday.

"We simply had to gut it out," Blackhawks coach Denis Savard said. "It's tough to win in this league and teams come to play hard every night. Playing away last night, we just had to come back home and grind this one out. Edmonton gave us a great challenge."

Trailing, 2-1, late in the second session, rookie Patrick Kane raced down the wing and started to circle behind the net. However, the first overall pick in the 2007 draft opted to feed a driving Sharp, whose quick one-timer beat goaltender Mathieu Garon. Sharp's team-leading 18th tally came with 2:16 left in the period.

"Kane just does so many incredible things with the puck - you have to be ready around the net," Sharp said. "It was a great pass, I just had to have my stick down."

Seabrook, who scored his first goal when he rifled a power-play shot from the top of the slot at the 6:53 mark of the first, tallied the game-clincher 80 seconds into the third period.

"Wizzer (James Wisnewski) just gave me a great pass on the first goal," Seabrook said. "On the second, Robert Lang made a great play and left me room to let it rip and it went in."

On a 3-on-2 rush, Seabrook's blast from the top of the right faceoff circle got by Garon for his fifth goal of the season.

After surrendering goals by Edmonton's Dustin Penner and blue-liner Tom Gilbert near the midway mark of the first period, Khabibulin swept aside all 21 shots he faced in the second and third.

"He (Khabibulin) is a great goaltender, which is why he has won a Stanley Cup," Savard said. "He made some huge saves tonight, especially when it was 2-1 and he kept it from being 3-1."

Garon, who made 31 saves, falls to 4-2 all-time against Chicago.

"When we have the lead, we haven't been able to expand on it," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "Our team did fight hard tonight and it was a hard fought game for one so close to Christmas."

Chicago played in front of its largest home crowd 20,151 since the lockout. Right wing Adam Burish led all the players back onto the ice after the game to salute the fans.

"Burish and a couple of guys have been talking about doing this," Seabrook said. "Our fans have been behind us and Christmas time was a good opportunity to recognize them."