Andreas Athanasiou scored 2:52 into overtime to lift the visiting Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
The Blackhawks erased a two-goal deficit thanks to goals by Sam Lafferty and Patrick Kane in the third period. Lafferty converted a breakaway at 10:49 of the period, and Kane scored on an odd-man rush with 3:05 remaining to cap a two-goal performance.
Athanasiou ended the wild affair after depositing Tyler Johnson’s return pass from the doorstep to help Chicago snap a three-game losing skid.
Max Domi and defenseman Jake McCabe each notched two assists, and Petr Mrazek made 28 saves for the Blackhawks.
Captain Brady Tkachuk, Claude Giroux and Shane Pinto each scored a goal and Mads Sogaard turned aside 28 shots for Ottawa, which lost for just the second time in its last eight games.
The Senators retired rugged forward Chris Neil’s No. 25 prior to the game. Neil, who spent 15 seasons with the team, joined former captain Daniel Alfredsson (No. 11) and defenseman Chris Phillips (No. 4) as the lone members of the modern-day version of the franchise to have their numbers retired by the club.
Former Blackhawks player Alex DeBrincat sent a lead pass to Giroux, who gained a step on Chicago’s Reese Johnson before tucking the puck between the pads of Mrazek to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 2:11 of the third period. The goal was Giroux’s 22nd of the season and seventh in his last eight games.
Tkachuk converted a backdoor feed from Drake Batherson to double the Senators’ advantage at 4:53 of the third period. Tkachuk’s goal was his 23rd of the season and third in as many games.
Domi fended off Ottawa defenseman Nikita Zaitsev before sliding a feed to Kane, who beat Sogaard just 44 seconds into the game.
Pinto then deftly deflected home Derick Brassard’s shot from the point to forge a 1-1 tie at 7:31 of the second period.
–Field Level Media
