Kane gets late winner, helps Blackhawks top Ducks in Crawford return

Brandon Saad took a pass along the wall and centered it to Kane, who scored his 40th goal of the season.

"Kaner was talking to me on the weak side so I just gave it to him," Saad said. "Obviously he knows what to do with it."

[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Ducks highlights]

Corey Crawford returned after missing 28 games with a concussion and made 29 saves for the Blackhawks. He also had an assist.

"I thought I made some big saves," Crawford said. "Also made some big mistakes."

Alex DeBrincat scored two goals, and Erik Gustafsson and Jonathan Toews each had two assists for the Blackhawks (27-28-9), who moved within five points of the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Devin Shore, Carter Rowney and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks (24-31-9), who have lost four in a row and are 11 points behind the Avalanche. Ryan Miller made 31 saves.

Kane's goal was the third go-ahead goal of his NHL career in the final minute of the third period, the most by a Chicago player in the past 40 seasons.

"It keeps us in the race," Kane said. "Gives us a little confidence when I know we think we can play better too."

Video: CHI@ANA: DeBrincat ties the game with his second goal

DeBrincat tied the game 3-3 with his second goal at 15:06 of the third period. Toews brought puck around back of net and passed across the front of the crease to DeBrincat for the one-timer.

The Ducks took a 3-2 lead at 5:35 of the third period. Anaheim forward Derek Grant stole the puck from Crawford from behind the Chicago net and made a no-look, between-the-legs pass to Terry in the slot, and he scored into the open net.

"I saw him dislodge it behind the net," Terry said of Grant. "I tried to get into the slot area. I don't even know if he saw me, but it was just a smart play by him to know the goalie was there and to throw it out there."

Ducks forward Rickard Rakell was given a five-minute boarding penalty and game misconduct for a hit on forward Drake Caggiula 35 seconds into the second period. Caggiula sustained a concussion.

DeBrincat scored 14 seconds into the penalty on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle for a 1-0 lead.

Shore scored shorthanded at 4:22 to tie it 1-1.

Video: CHI@ANA: Shore pots own deflected pass for a SHG

Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson passed out of his zone to Shore alone along the wall and Grant came down the middle to start a 2-on-1. Shore tried to center a pass to Grant, but Gustafsson broke up the pass with his stick. The puck came back to Shore and he shot between Crawford's pads.

"That was unfortunate," Shore said of the boarding penalty. "Hate to see a guy down and injured, and we lose one of our best players. You rally around it, and I thought we did a good job on the kill. It was nice to get a shorty."

The Blackhawks went ahead 2-1 at 16:42 on a shorthanded goal by Artem Anisimov, who skated down the left side before scoring nearside from the bottom of the left circle.

Rowney tied it 2-2 at 18:37. The Blackhawks tried to clear their zone, but Ducks forward Ryan Kesler intercepted the pass and fed Rowney, who shot between Crawford's pads.

They said it

"It was a big game. Didn't think we were very good but we found a way. We made some plays to get back in it there and we'll take it." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton

"The main theme is we're struggling to score goals. We're playing good hockey, but just not getting the results offensively." -- Ducks forward Troy Terry

Need to know

Kane is the third player in team history with at least 40 goals in a season at age 30 or older, joining Bobby Hull (1968-69, 1970-71, 1971-72) and Jim Pappin (1972-73). … Kane and DeBrincat are the first Chicago teammates with at least 35 goals in the same season since Steve Larmer and Jeremy Roenick in 1992-93. … Kane has scored at least a point in 19 straight road games (14 goals, 21 assists) dating to Nov. 24, 2018. … Kane avoided going back-to-back games without a point for the second time this season. … Toews has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Gustafsson has nine assists in a four-game multipoint streak. … DeBrincat has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in the past six games. ... The major penalty was the second of Rakell's seven-year NHL career.

What's next

Blackhawks: At the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-W, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)

Ducks: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday (10 p.m. ET; SN, FS-W, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)

Video: Kane, DeBrincat lead Hawks to late 4-3 win over Ducks