The Chicago Blackhawks reunited Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov, and Patrick Kane on Sunday night, and it paid off as the trio combined for four goals in a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Just 58 seconds into the game, the Blackhawks seized the lead. Patrick Kane made the play happen as he grabbed the puck along the boards, and as he circled the zone, he located Artemi Panarin near the goal line. The rookie fired a one-timer that bounced off Edmonton goaltender Cam Talbot and found the back of the cage, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead.
The Blackhawks got a power play a short time later as Darnell Nurse was sent to the box, but they couldn't take advantage. Brent Seabrook had a good opportunity during the man-advantage, with his shot sailing just wide after he pinched in from the point.
Just after a 4-on-4 expired late in the period, the Blackhawks scored to extend their lead. Once again it was Panarin doing the damage, as he bounced off a check at the blue line and then ripped a wrist shot over Talbot's glove and just under the crossbar to make it a 2-0 game with less than two and a half minutes to go in the period.
Even though the Blackhawks started the second period on a power play, the Oilers racked up a 14-1 shot advantage early on in the frame. Taylor Hall had a great chance early on as he cut through the slot, and Jordan Eberle fired a shot off under similar circumstances, but Corey Crawford was able to fight off both shots.
Hall got another breakaway later in the period, but this time it was Niklas Hjalmarsson doing the work as he broke up the scoring chance and avoided getting whistled for a penalty in the process.
In total, the Oilers managed 22 shots on goal during the period, but Crawford stopped all of them as he kept the Blackhawks ahead by two goals after two periods of play.
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Early in the third period, the Oilers got a power play after Viktor Tikhonov was sent to the penalty box, and they scored to cut the Chicago lead to one. Ryan Nugent Hopkins collected the puck near the top of the face-off circles and uncorked a shot through traffic, and Jordan Eberle scooped up the rebound and flipped it past Crawford to make it a 2-1 game.
The Blackhawks took control of the tempo in the game after that goal, and they were able to extend their lead with six minutes to go in the contest. Artem Anisimov fired a pass into the offensive zone, and even though it ricocheted off an Edmonton defenseman, Kane was able to pick it up, kick it to his backhand, and wrist a shot past Talbot to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 advantage.
Just when the Hawks thought the game was over, Edmonton cut their lead in half. On a shot from the point, Andrej Sekera blasted a slap shot through traffic and past the glove of Crawford to trim Chicago's advantage to 3-2 with two minutes to go.
The Blackhawks did finally finish off the game with five seconds to go, as Anisimov got a great feed from the side of the net and fired home a one-timer to give Chicago a 4-2 victory.
