Blackhawks defeat Penguins, end eight-game losing streak

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks ended an eight-game losing streak with a 6-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at United Center on Wednesday.

Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists to surpass 700 NHL points, and Andreas Martinsen, Brent Seabrook, Alex DeBrincat, Marcus Kruger and Brandon Saad scored for Chicago (10-18-5), which hadn't won since Nov. 24. Corey Crawford made 40 saves.
"It's a relief," Toews said. "It's definitely just a good feeling for the guys. We've got something to celebrate. We've got something to enjoy. We were reminded with an exciting reason to come to the rink in a few days and come out with the same effort. It's something we've got to be aware of and build off of in the next one."
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Bryan Rust had a hat trick for the Penguins (13-11-6), who had won three of four. Casey DeSmith made 23 saves.
"That's an opportunity sitting in front of us," Pittsburgh forward Matt Cullen said. "That's a team that played last night in Winnipeg. To not have the fire or whatever, the jump, I don't know that there's a real excuse for that. We had plenty of time to recover. It's a frustrating one to let go."

Kruger gave the Blackhawks a 4-3 lead at 3:49 of the third period off a pass from Martinsen.
"It's always good," Kruger said of ending the losing streak. "We needed a win badly, and I think we battled hard today, so it was good to get the win."
Toews scored into an empty net to make it 5-3 at 18:58 and reach the milestone.
Saad also scored into an empty net to make it 6-3 with 21 seconds left.
Martinsen gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 14:14 of the first period with his first goal of the season. Carl Dahlstrom's shot deflected off Martinsen's chest and past Smith to end an 11-game streak of the Blackhawks allowing the first goal.

"It's been awhile since we scored first in a game," Martinsen said. "We've been talking a lot about having good starts, and we finally got one. And then we just kept going."
Seabrook extended Chicago's lead to 2-0 at 17:51 with a slap shot near the top of the right face-off circle.
Rust scored unassisted to make it 2-1 at 18:40, and he tied it 2-2 at 5:46 of the second period off the rebound of a Derek Grant shot.
DeBrincat put the Blackhawks back ahead 3-2 at 15:28 on the power play. He skated around Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta and shot just under the crossbar.

Rust completed his second NHL hat trick when he tied the game 3-3 at 19:03 when his shot was deflected by Seabrook into the net. Rust also scored three goals Dec. 5, 2016, in an 8-5 win against the Ottawa Senators.
"I didn't think any of us expected that [result] or wanted that," Rust said. "We're in a position where we can't really have too many more of those. I think we've got to try to [learn] the lessons and bounce back next game."

They said it

"We're trying to build some traction here, they've played a lot of good hockey, we've played a lot of good hockey over the last three or four weeks and we're trying to string some wins together and some points together and build some traction and momentum. When you have a night like tonight it sets you back. It's a missed opportunity from our standpoint. We just didn't play well enough to get the result." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"I think everyone probably was feeling a little bit, it's no fun to come to the rink when things aren't going well. You want to win. Everyone's a competitor here. Hopefully it releases some tension in the guys and they can play a little freer because we've had some good moments. But you can see how tight they are. It's hard to play under those circumstances. Hopefully we can use it as a little springboard here."-- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton

Need to know

Toews is the 16th active NHL player to score 700 points with one team and the fourth to reach the milestone this season (Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks; Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers; Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning). … Seabrook passed Bobby Hull for second place in games played with the Blackhawks with 1,037, behind Stan Mikita (1,396). … Seabrook is one goal from 100 in the NHL. … Forward Dylan Sikura and Dahlstrom, a defenseman, each made his season debut with the Blackhawks. … Chicago forward Patrick Kane has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak. … Cullen (lower-body injury) played his first game since Nov. 17 at Ottawa. He had one shot on goal in 10:14. … It is the sixth time in Penguins history they have had at least five hat tricks through the first 30 games of a season (2008-09, 1995-96, 1986-87 and 1972-73). They are the second team in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) to accomplish that. The Edmonton Oilers did it six consecutive seasons from 1983-89.

What's next

Penguins: Host the Boston Bruins on Friday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NESN, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, TSN3, NHL.TV)