DeBrincat, Blackhawks win in OT, hand Coyotes eighth loss in row

GLENDALE, Ariz. --Alex DeBrincat scored at 4:23 of overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks handed the Arizona Coyotes their eighth straight loss with a 4-3 win at Gila River Arena on Wednesday.

DeBrincat won it off a backdoor pass from Patrick Kane to end a seven-game goal drought. It was his 40th goal of the season.
"It's awesome. I was stuck there for a while, but I'm lucky I've got 'Kaner' passing it to me," DeBrincat said. "You obviously want to get to 40 as quick as you can, and it seemed I was a little bit snake bit in there, had a lot of chances pretty much every game. It was bound to go in and sooner or later, so I'm happy when it did."

Chicago led 2-0 after the first period and 3-1 after the second.
"We kind of let them back in the game there, but it's nice to get a win and feel good about our game and move on," DeBrincat said.
Dominik Kubalik had a goal and an assist, Alex Vlasic scored his first NHL goal, and Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves for the Blackhawks (26-40-11), who won for the second time in their past 12 games (2-8-2).
"It's nice to win, isn't it?" Chicago coach Derek King said.
Nathan Smith scored his first NHL goal, Phil Kessel and Nick Schmaltz each had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 36 saves for the Coyotes (22-49-6), who have been outscored 47-13 in their past eight games (0-7-1).
"I thought it was good for our younger players to see how the older guys dug in and competed and were real pros," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "It's just unfortunate we lost."

Jake McCabe gave Chicago a 1-0 lead 42 seconds into the first period, scoring on a loose puck from the slot, and Kubalik made it 2-0 at 15:32 when he knocked in Jonathan Toews' wraparound attempt.
Barrett Hayton cut it to 2-1 at 12:43 of the second period on a rebound after Lankinen made a diving stop on Schmaltz.
Andrew Ladd, who was playing in his 1,000th NHL game, got the secondary assist. The forward played 203 NHL games with Chicago.
"I try to be open and honest with the younger guys, try to help them along, give them pointers and pay it forward for the guys that did it for me when I was young," Ladd said.
Vlasic made it 3-1 at 16:25 with a point shot that deflected off Schmaltz's left skate.
"It's good to get it out of the way. I don't know how it snuck in there, but I'm glad it went in," Vlasic said.

King said Vlasic was probably the Blackhawks' best defenseman against Arizona but is still finding his way in the NHL.
"I was happy for the kid," King said. "But he's got to learn to defend. You can't just be all offense."
Smith cut the lead to 3-2 at 9:42 of the third period, scoring from one knee off Kessel's pass, and Anton Stralman tied it 3-3 at 13:43 with a shot that went top shelf.
"I think maybe we get away from our game a little bit, try to maybe put more up on the board," DeBrincat said. "When we have a lead, we just need to play some defense, not turn the puck over."
NOTES:Kane had two assists to give him his third 90-point season (25 goals, 65 assists) in the NHL. … Coyotes forward Nick Ritchie and defenseman Dysin Mayo were late scratches with upper-body injuries. … Arizona forward Jay Beagle left late in the first period with a lower-body injury. ... Schmaltz has a career-high 54 points (23 goals, 31 assists). His previous career high was 52 (21 goals, 31 assists) in 2017-18 with the Blackhawks. … Chicago hasn't won in regulation in 14 games. The last win was on March 23, a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks. … The Blackhawks are 2-9-2 in the first game of a back-to-back. They play the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. … DeBrincat has eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a four-game point streak. … Kane has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Coyotes forward Antoine Roussel had two shots on goal, three hits and one blocked shot in 15:40 of ice time after missing 21 games with a lower-body injury.