Blackhawks thrash Coyotes 7-1, win third straight game

Brendan Perlini collected his first NHL hat trick as the host Chicago Blackhawks won their third straight game, a 7-1 thrashing of the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night. Corey Crawford made 24 saves for Blackhawks, who erased an early deficit with authority by scoring seven unanswered goals. Chicago now sits five points back of the Western Conference playoff pace with 13 games remaining.

Perlini -- who was acquired from the Coyotes via trade in November -- notched his first of the night at the 6:38 mark of the opening frame for a 1-1 tie. He buried a low, glove-side wrister on a breakaway. Brandon Saad put the Blackhawks ahead by a 2-1 count 91 seconds later when he crashed the net and redirected a Jonathan Toews crossing pass.

The floodgates opened in the second period. Perlini's second tally came when he completed a nifty three-way passing play 3:16 into the middle frame, and then Chris Kunitz made it a 4-1 affair at 6:26 when a slick pass from David Kampf left him an open net to hit. That spelled the end for Coyotes starting goalie Darcy Kuemper, who stopped just 12 shots, but Calvin Pickard didn't fare much better between the pipes.

Patrick Kane's 41st goal of the season came just over two minutes later on the second shot Pickard faced, another tally that could have used the Harlem Globetrotters' theme song, "Sweet Georgia Brown," in the background. Finally Toews finished the one-sided frame by firing a five-hole offering on a penalty shot for his 30th goal of the season. Perlini rounded out the scoring by tallying with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game, his sixth goal in five outings and 11th of the season.

Richard Panik provided the start Arizona was looking for 4:27 into the clash when a clearing attempt ricocheted to him in the slot and he buried his own rebound, but it was all Blackhawks from there. Pickard stopped 15 shots for the Coyotes, who would have jumped into a playoff position with a win but instead saw their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

(With inputs from agencies.)