ARIZONA COYOTES
Coyotes rally to take down the Blackhawks in a shootout win
Dec 8, 2019, 8:34 PM

Arizona Coyotes right wing Christian Fischer, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
CHICAGO — Conor Garland and Nick Schmaltz scored in the shootout against Robin Lehner, and the Arizona Coyotes rallied from two goals down to to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Sunday night.
Patrick Kane connected against Darcy Kuemper in the tiebreaker as the Coyotes improved to 5-2 in shootouts this season and finished a 3-1 road trip.
Garland got his team-leading 12th goal in regulation, and Carl Soderberg and Christian Fischer also scored. Kuemper finished with 26 saves through overtime.
Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists for his first three-point game this season. Alex DeBrincat and Dominik Kubalik also scored for injury-depleted Chicago, which played beyond regulation for the third straight game following an overtime win at Boston on Thursday and a shootout win at New Jersey the following night.
Lehner had 44 saves — including several sensational ones — as the Coyotes pressured late.
Chicago led 3-1 after one period.
Toews opened the scoring 53 seconds in. He connected on a backhand deflection of Calvin de Haan’s soft cross-ice feed, despite being tied up with defenseman Jason Demers.
DeBrincat’s power-play goal at 8:40 made it 2-0. The forward slipped behind Arizona’s defense on the left side, took Kane’s feed, then burst to the net and beat Kuemper high on the glove side.
Arizona cut to 2-1 at 11 minutes from a goalmouth scramble when Christian’s Dvorak’s feed from the left side of the net ticked in off Fischer’s skate. Kubalik’s midair deflection of Connor Murphy’s shot from the left point with 2:05 left in the first restored Chicago’s two-goal lead.
Garland and Soderberg scored power-play goals in the second to tie it at 3. Garland trimmed it to 3-2 at 6:32 on a wrist shot from the slot.
Chicago rookie defenseman Dennis Gilbert and Demers squared off in a free-swinging fight at 7:01. Gilbert was assessed an extra minor penalty for instigating, as well as a 10-minute misconduct.
Soderberg knotted it at 3 on the ensuing man advantage at 8:53 when his pass from right circle deflected off Chicago’ defenseman Slater Koekkoek’s stick and over Lehner’s shoulder.
Lehner robbed Clayton Keller with a flashy glove save at 9:19 of the scoreless third to keep it tied. Keller was alone at the low edge of the right circle during Arizona’s fifth straight power-play when he fired and Lehner reached to grab the shot.
Lehner slid across the crease to stop Jakob Chychrun at 1:40 of overtime. Kuemper blocked Toews’ tip-in attempt from the edge of the crease during Chicago’s power-play midway through the extra period.
Arizona finished the OT on a power-play of its own after Toews sent off for slashing.
NOTES:
Arizona scratched F Michael Chaput, F Barrett Hayton and D Aaron Ness.
UP NEXT:
Coyotes: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.