CHICAGO (AP) Ondrej Kase had a goal and two assists, Adam Henrique scored in the third period and the Anaheim Ducks handed the Chicago Blackhawks their eighth straight loss with a 3-2 victory on Thursday night.
Nick Ritchie added a goal and an assist and John Gibson made 42 saves as Anaheim improved to 1-1 on a four-game trip. The Ducks had dropped two in a row and four of six, hurting their playoff positioning as they try for a wild card in the Western Conference.
Kase found a wide-open Henrique in front for his 18th goal at 8:34, giving Anaheim a 3-2 lead. Chicago pulled Anton Forsberg for an extra attacker with about 2:15 left, but Gibson made a great stop on Brandon Saad to help the Ducks hold on during the frantic final minutes.
Duncan Keith scored his first goal of the season for last-place Chicago, which has lost seven in a row at home. Saad also snapped a long scoring drought, and Forsberg made 29 stops.
The eight-game slide for the once-mighty Blackhawks is their longest losing streak since they dropped nine in a row in early 2012.
Chicago jumped in front on its fourth power-play of the game. With Cam Fowler in the penalty box for tripping Alex DeBrincat, Keith drove a long slap shot by a screened Gibson on the glove side 1:45 into the second period.
It was the first goal for Keith since March 16 at Ottawa. The two-time Norris Trophy winner has just 26 points after he had six goals and 47 assists last season.
Saad then finished off a pretty give-and-go with Vinnie Hinostroza at 9:12, tapping it in at the net for his 14th of the season. Saad had no goals and one assist in his previous 16 games.
But Anaheim responded with goals on back-to-back shots midway through the period. Ritchie put a backhander into the upper corner on Forsberg’s glove side 41 seconds after Saad scored, and Kase finished off a breakaway with another nice backhander for the tying goal at 12:18.
Chicago got another power play after Blackhawks forward Ryan Hartman creased Jakob Silfverberg with a big hit with about two minutes left in the second, prompting Anaheim’s Josh Manson to start a fight with Hartman. But the Ducks killed it off, part of a 1-for-5 night with the man advantage for the Blackhawks.
NOTES: Chicago recalled G Jean-Francois Berube from Rockford of AHL and assigned goalie Jeff Glass to its top minor league affiliate. The 26-year-old Berube made one appearance with the Blackhawks earlier this season, stopping 12 of 14 shots on Dec. 6 at Washington. … The Ducks and Blackhawks play for the final time this season on March 4 in Anaheim. … The Blackhawks traded minor-league D Ville Pokka to Ottawa for center Chris DiDomenico, who will report to Rockford. DiDomenico, 28, had six goals and four assists in 24 games with the Senators this season.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Visit Minnesota on Saturday.
Blackhawks: Host Washington on Saturday night.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey
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