Alex DeBrincat eclipsed the 30-goal plateau with two tallies, Patrick Kane dished out a pair of assists and the Chicago Blackhawks welcomed back fans Sunday night for the first time in over a year with a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars.
By scoring twice – six total against Dallas this season – DeBrincat extended his point streak to seven games and his career-long goal streak to six, with eight tallies in that span for Chicago (24-25-6, 54 points).
Kane’s two helpers give him 51 – second only to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid’s 68 – and eight points (one goal, seven assists) against Dallas in seven games. Brandon Hagel posted a goal and an assist, MacKenzie Entwistle netted his first NHL goal and Kevin Lankinen registered 37 saves for the Blackhawks, who are 5-2-0 against Dallas. Winners just once in their past seven games (1-4-2) as their chances for a playoff berth slipped away from them, the Stars (22-19-14, 58 points) got markers from Denis Gurianov and Mark Pysyk and 21 saves on 25 shots by netminder Anton Khudobin. After 426 days without fans in attendance, Chicago’s United Center was finally open to 3,820 Blackhawks faithful – the last U.S-based NHL arena to allow fans inside.
Entwistle became the third Blackhawk to score his first NHL goal this week – joining Riley Stillman and Mike Hardman – getting a primary assist from Hardman at 6:23 of the first period.
Eliminated from playoff contention Saturday night after the Nashville Predators earned the Central Division’s final spot with a 3-1 win over Carolina, Dallas evened the game at 1-1 when Gurianov notched his 12th goal at 9:40.
However, Hagel scored for Chicago just 51 seconds later when his shot struck the crossbar and went straight up. The puck landed behind Khudobin and spun into the goal for Hagel’s ninth marker.
DeBrincat cashed in by wiring a shot from the left dot off a point pass from Kane, who provided two assists in the frame as Chicago headed into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead.
In a scoreless, penalty-free second, Lankinen stood strong by stopping 10 Dallas shots, while the Blackhawks mustered just five, leaving them outshot 27-14 over the two periods.
Early in the third, Pysyk cut the deficit to 3-2 with his third goal of the season, but DeBrincat secured the outcome for the Chicago with his 31st goal with 3:12 remaining. It is the second time in his career that DeBrincat has topped 30 goals, the other coming with a 41-goal season in 2018-19. The two clubs will conclude the regular season with a rematch Monday night.

Flames remain in playoff hunt with win over Senators
Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk both collected one goal and two assists and the Calgary Flames kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 6-1 home victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Mikael Backlund, Michael Stone, Dillon Dube and Mark Giordano also scored, while goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves as Calgary snapped a two-game skid. Gaudreau has collected 15 points in 12 games (6-9-15).
The Flames (23-26-3, 49 points) must win their final four games of the regular season and need the Montreal Canadiens to lose in regulation both of their final outings. Calgary ends the season with four games against the last-place Vancouver Canucks, while the Canadiens twice play host to the Edmonton Oilers.
Josh Norris replied with the lone goal for the Senators (22-28-5, 49 points), who have long been eliminated from playoff contention. Starting goalie Anton Forsberg was victimised for four goals on 23 shots before being pulled in favor of Filip Gustavsson – who stopped 11 shots in relief.
Ottawa, which has long been eliminated, finishes the season with Wednesday’s home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Gaudreau’s breakaway tally just past the midway point of the first period gave Calgary a much-needed boost. While holding off Victor Mete, he deposited a backhand shot for his 19th goal of the season. Backlund snapped an 11-game goal drought 17 seconds into the second period. Shortly after he was denied on a golden chance, Backlund buried a sharp-angled shot for his ninth tally of the season.
Tkachuk from the doorstep converted Gaudreau’s pass to make it 3-0 at 4:38 of the middle frame. His 11th goal of the campaign ended a 13-game goal slump.
After Stone extended the lead at 10:55 of the period with a bullet of a slap shot – a goal that saw rookie Glenn Gawdin receive an assist and earn his first point – Norris, who is third in rookie scoring this season, put the Senators on the board 61 seconds later with his 16th goal of the season.
Dube restored the four-goal edge in the middle of the third period when he wired a one-timer on the two-on-one rush for his 10th goal of the season and Giordano rounded out the scoring with a late power-play goal.