Red Wings defeat Blackhawks, keep Kane at 399 NHL goals

CHICAGO-- The Detroit Red Wings scored on the power play for the first time in 15 games in a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday.

Christian Djoos faked a shot then scored with a wrist shot past Malcolm Subban's right arm for a power-play goal to extend Detroit's lead to 3-1 at 18:27 of the second period. It ended an 0-for-40 drought dating to Jan. 28.
"It was a big power-play goal at that moment, and then I thought it was a really, really big [penalty] kill at that moment," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "So there's a timeliness to it. That becomes enough of a difference in enough games, and we've lost enough games where I think 5-on-5 we maybe have deserved a better fate but lost on special teams."
Frans Nielsen and Evgeny Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist for Detroit (7-13-3), which has won three of four, including 5-2 against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves.
"It, for sure, feels good, [we] scored five goals in back-to-back games now," Nielsen said. "It's something we really struggled with [early this season]. Special teams, we've been losing that battle a lot this year, and every time you lose a special teams battle in a game it's tough to win."

Alex DeBrincat scored, and Adam Boqvist had two assists for Chicago (11-7-4). Subban made 27 saves in his second straight start. Patrick Kane did not score and remains one goal from becoming the 100th player to score 400 NHL goals.
"It was a weird game," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "I think overall we did a lot of good things, created more than enough offensively, had a bit of trouble breaking through to score, convert, obviously early. And they did, they converted their chances. Got to give them credit there. In key moments they were able to come through with a big goal to turn momentum, particularly the first, the second and fourth goal, even the fifth goal."
The teams play here again Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNW, SNP).
"Some goals we got lost in the [defensive] zone," Boqvist said. "But overall, I think we played pretty decent. Obviously, we don't want to let up five goals. We have to help [Subban] out there, we have to play better defense overall. And I think everyone is going to bounce back [Sunday]. We have to prepare for the next game because they're going to be ready, so we have to be ready when the puck drops."
Svechnikov tapped in a rebound to give Detroit a 4-1 lead at 2:33 of the third period. It was his season debut.
"The focus was on rebounds the whole game. I think Subban gives [up] a lot of rebounds, so it was just a matter of the time and matter of the place," Svechnikov said. "Luckily, I was right there, but I should've scored the breakaway."
Mattias Janmark redirected Carl Soderberg's shot to trim it to 4-2 at 4:43. Nielsen knocked in Svechnikov's centering pass at 8:15 for a 5-2 lead, and Dominik Kubalik scored with a backhand with 12 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
Robby Fabbri skated up the right wall then passed to Bobby Ryan, whose wrist shot from the slot gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 10:27 of the first period.
DeBrincat tied it 1-1 at 13:53 of the second period when came off the bench to take Calvin de Haan's pass then shot past Bernier's glove. Darren Helm scored from in front 16 seconds later for a 2-1 Red Wings lead at 14:09.
NOTES: Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (upper body) did not play and the center will not play Sunday. ... Subban shut out the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 on Thursday. ... DeBrincat has scored five points (two goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak and nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past eight games. ... Detroit's 14 games without a power-play goal tied the second-longest drought in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) with the 1997-98 Toronto Maple Leafs and 2015-16 Ottawa Senators. The 1977-78 Cleveland Barons had a 16-game drought. The Red Wings' last power-play goal was by Todd Bertuzzi in the third period of a 7-3 loss to the Dallas Stars one month ago.