Stars continue to roll with shootout win over Chicago

The Dallas Stars made it four wins in a row and six wins in their last seven games, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2, in a shootout Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
Ben Bishop made 32 saves and stopped both shots he faced in the shootout, and Alexander Radulov scored in regulation and tallied the winner in the shootout for the Stars, who swept their home-and-home series with the Blackhawks.

WATCH: [Full Stars vs. Blackhawks highlights]
"It's a long season. Sometimes there's ups and sometimes there's downs. Right now, we've got four in a row," said Radulov. "We've just got to stick with it, and work hard and work as a team and five guys on the ice and give everything you've got. Play smart, play playoff hockey and we're going to be in good shape."
Radek Faksa also scored in regulation for the Stars and Tyler Seguin tallied in the shootout as Dallas (15-10-1) ran its home winning streak to five games. The Stars improved to 6-1-0 in their last seven games overall.
"We're doing what you want a team to do, and that is battle for each other," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "We're making each other accountable on a high level and helping each other on the bench. I think we're going to have to play a lot better than we're playing right now to get a playoff spot, but I like that fact that we're really trying to help each other."
Anton Forsberg, who has taken over for Chicago's injured No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford, stopped 33 shots for the Blackhawks who lost their third straight game (0-1-2) and fell to 12-9-5 on the season. Despite being swept in the home-and-home series by Dallas, the Blackhawks did pick up a point in both games.

"Of course, it's tough not winning," said Forsberg, "but it was a decent job here on the road and we played a tight game. It's tough not getting the two points and we have to move on and look for our next game. We can't do anything else now."
Special teams were a factor early. After killing off Chicago's first power play of the game, the Stars got their first chance with the man-advantage and cashed in to take a 1-0 lead. Radulov finished off a nice passing sequence by the top power play unit, scoring off a blast from the right circle at the 5:57 mark.
Chicago tied it 1-1 less than three minutes later when a Cody Franson shot from the right point eluded a screened Bishop at 8:31 of the first.
Forsberg came up with a big save late in the period to keep it a 1-1 game, denying a point-blank chance by Radulov off the rush.
The team traded power play chances in the second before the Stars grabbed a 2-1 lead. Tyler Pitlick created a turnover at the Chicago blue line and got the puck to Remi Elie who set up Faksa in the slot and Faksa scored off a blast at the 12:15 mark for his fifth goal in the past three games.
"I just feel confident," Faksa said. "The whole team feels confident. If we keep winning it's more fun, and we feel confident. You can tell on the ice we play well together and its way different than the start of the season."

The Blackhawks tied the game 2-2 with 40.8 seconds left in the second on Brandon Saad's tip of a Connor Murphy shot from the top of the left circle.
There was no scoring in the third period. Chicago had a great chance late in regulation, but Bishop broke up a Nick Schmaltz pass to Artem Anisimov who was looking at an open side of the net.
Three-on-three overtime was high paced, and there were good chances on both sides but no goals. Bishop came up big in beating Schmaltz to a loose puck in the left circle, denying the Chicago forward a great scoring chance.
That sent the game into the shootout where Radulov and Seguin scored for Dallas, and Bishop turned away Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to give the Stars the sweep of the home-and-home series with Chicago and their fourth straight win overall.
"It's nice to get two wins against them, they're a good team," said Stars defenseman Stephen Johns.
"Obviously, they are huge wins against a divisional opponent, so it is a huge four points."

Notes

What's Next

The Stars play at Colorado Sunday. This will be the fourth meeting of the season between the Stars and Avalanche and the third in Denver. The Stars are 1-2-0 vs. the Avalanche, including 0-2-0 at Pepsi Center in Denver. Kari Lehtonen will get the start in goal.

Stars Lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Devin Shore
Remi Elie - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Curtis McKenzie - Gemel Smith - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Jamie Oleksiak - Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched:Julius Honka
Injured: Antoine Roussel (illness), Martin Hanzal (hamstring), Marc Methot (knee)

This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @StarsInsideEdge.