Recap: Ducks Erase Two-Goal Deficit to Defeat Blackhawks, 3-2

Have no fear because Uncle Rico is here.
In a game the Ducks desperately needed to win, Adam Henrique and his linemates Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase put together a stellar performance in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Thursday. The trio scored all three goals and combined for seven points to help erase a 2-0 deficit in the second game of a crucial four-game road trip.

Ritchie cut the 2-0 deficit in half, Kase scored the equalizer and Henrique recorded his team-leading sixth game-winning goal of the season to improve Anaheim's record to 28-20-11 (67 points). More importantly, it kept them right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. The Ducks leapfrogged the Kings (who lost in regulation tonight) for fourth place in the Pacific Division, just one point behind third place Calgary and second place San Jose.
"We can be a difference maker as line for the rest of the season," said Henrique, who leads the Ducks (and the NHL) with six game winners since his Anaheim debut on December 1. "Those two guys put their hard hats on and go to work every night. Just playing the right way."
When the game was on the line in the final minutes of regulation, John Gibson rose the occasion. He denied Brandon Saad with under a minute left with a sensational right-pad stop to keep it 3-2, and in the end finished with 42 saves to improve his record this season to 20-15-6. Gibson has gone 10-4-2 in his last 16 decisions.
"It was big for us," Henrique said, on the team's resiliency to erase a two-goal deficit. "We weren't really playing the way we wanted to off the start. Once we settled down and got into our game, we started playing in the offensive zone more. That's when things started to go. Couple big goals to tie it up and we just found a way to stick with it get one in the third to go ahead."
Duncan Keith and Saad staked the Blackhawks to a 2-0 lead, but the end result was the club's eighth consecutive loss (0-7-1) - the last six all coming in regulation. Overall, Chicago has just two wins in its last 14 games (2-10-2) and has been held to two or fewer goals in the last six consecutive games and 13 of the last 16. Anton Forsberg made 29 saves in the loss, dropping his record this season to 5-11-3.
The first period didn't feature goals from either side, but it was a wide open 20-minute frame that featured quality scoring chances at both ends. It was also a penalty-filled first period, with the Ducks successfully killing off three shorthanded opportunities. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, went to the box twice.
Anaheim's best chance in the first period came from Rickard Rakell, who blocked Keith's point shot at the blueline and was off to the races. The Ducks' leading goal scorer tried to roof a backhander over Forsberg's blocker, but the 25-year-old netminder didn't bite on the initial fake. Chicago's best chance came off the stick of Patrick Kane, who sent a puck wide of the net in the slot
After going 0-for-3 in the first period, the Blackhawks found success on their fourth attempt 1:45 into the second period when Keith hammered a shot through traffic for his first goal of the season (58 games).
After Francois Beauchemin was denied on a breakaway, the Hawks raced back on a 3-on-1 with Saad tapping in a crisp pass for his first goal in 17 games with 10:48 remaining in the second period.
The Ducks responded just 40 seconds later when Ritchie skated in on his off wing and lifted a backhander into the top corner to cut the deficit in half. Kase earned the lone assist, giving him six points (3g/3a) in his last six games and 13 points (6g/7a) in his last 16.

Anaheim's third line responded again at the 12:18 mark of the second period when Kase found an extra gear to slip behind the defense and pull off his signature forehand-to-backhand breakaway move. Kase and his linemates were at the end of a long shift, and the fatigue was evident on his face as his made his way back to the bench. It gave the 22-year-old forward 16 goals on the season, the second-most tallies on the Ducks.

Things got heated late in the second period when Ryan Hartman caught Jakob Silfverberg with his head down, prompting Josh Manson to take matters into his own hands. When the dust settled, Manson was given a double minor for roughing, while Hartman was given two minutes for roughing.
Creating chances all night, the Ritchie-Henrique-Kase trio delivered once more at the 8:34 mark of the third period when Henrique sent a backhander over Forsberg's shoulder to give the Ducks their first lead of the game. It gave the man affectionately known as "Uncle Rico" 14 goals and 22 points in 34 games since the trade in late November.

Gibson came up with another sensational save, this time with under a minute left in regulation when he stuck out his right leg to rob Saad on the doorstep. His save kept the score 3-2 despite an extended shift from the Blackhawks in the offensive zone. Gibson made one more stop on Kane as the buzzer sounded to preserve the win for Anaheim.

The Ducks will continue their four-game road trip on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild.