Mikheyev scores twice, Blackhawks hold off Stars

CHICAGO -- Ilya Mikheyev scored two goals for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 4-3 victory against the Dallas Stars at United Center on Thursday.

The victory was the second in six days for the Blackhawks against the Stars. They earned a 4-3 shootout victory at Dallas last Saturday.

“Yeah, I think we played a whole 60 minutes today,” said Mikheyev, who missed games on Dec. 27 and 28 after becoming a father. "Yes, it’s more exciting you know? Life’s changing and I’m really happy with it.”

Spencer Knight made 22 saves for the Blackhawks (15-18-7), who had lost two in a row and eight of nine. Ryan Donato and Andre Burakovsky each had two assists.

“We were really good from the start,” Burakovsky said. “There was a period in the game I think we were sitting back a little bit too much instead of keep going, keep pushing, but we came out in the third and did what we're supposed to do. Overall a good game.”

Jake Oettinger made 17 saves for the Stars (25-9-7), who are 0-2-2 in their past four games. Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson and Matt Duchene each had a goal and an assist.

“That team (Chicago), back-to-back games, they’ve outbattled us to a man and outcompeted us,” Duchene said. “We’ve got more than what we’ve showed. We have to be at a higher level. This team is better than that. You’re going to have hiccups in an 82-game schedule. I think it’s about how we respond. We have to all look at ourselves in the mirror and be better, each one of us.”

Defenseman Artyom Levshunov put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0 on the power play at 11:48 of the first period. Levshunov took a backhand pass in the slot from Burakovsky, waited and put a wrist shot past Oettinger’s glove.

Rantanen tied the game at 14:42, picking up the puck at the left point, moving past Chicago forward Jason Dickinson and lifting in a backhand shot.

Teuvo Teravainen restored the Blackhawks’ lead with a power-play goal at the 13-second mark of the second period. Tyler Bertuzzi fed the puck behind the net to Burakovsky, who passed in front to Teravainen.

Mikheyev put the Blackhawks ahead 3-1 at 9:14 of the second period. He picked up the puck along the left-wing boards in the offensive zone, skated across and went backhand to forehand to score while holding off Stars defenseman Esa Lindell.

Oettinger could not handle Mikheyev’s shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle at 3:58 of the third period. The goalie appeared to have stopped the shot, but the puck slid into the net after hitting him.

“Yeah, I was pumped for him,” said Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill. “He’s enjoying his early experience as a new dad, so it was great. He’s such a good person, so whenever he has success it’s fun to watch.”

After Oettinger was pulled for the extra attacker, Robertson brought the Stars within 4-2 at 16:03 and Duchene scored from in front of the net at 19:42 for the 4-3 final.

“You know what, all you’re really doing there is working on your 6-on-5,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “You’re going to be down maybe 3-2. But if you’re down 4-1, there’s no recipe for that. The odds of coming back aren’t great, but it’s good to work on that 6-on-5 when you need it, but your game has to be much better than that or you’re going to be in a hole.

“We’re certainly in a little bit of a funk. I thought they (the Blackhawks) played with a little bit of jump, and we just didn’t respond. Obviously, giving up two penalty-kill goals hurts. It gives the other team life. But we’ve got to create our own life. I thought we aren’t executing at the level that we can. I think we’ve certainly dropped a degree. You can’t drop a degree in this league and expect to win in anyone’s building on any given night.”

Mikheyev came close to getting a hat trick, but a long shot hit the post with the Stars’ net empty.

“I was saying a little prayer for him when he got out there for the third one,” Donato said. “Having the baby, getting a hat trick, it’d be pretty cool. He was saying he was going to save it for next time and get another one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a puck hit the post that hard, especially on an empty net. We were all hoping he got that, but he had an amazing game tonight. We were happy to have him tonight, especially with all the different things he does, but when he scores like that, it’s great.”

NOTES: Playing his 40th game of the season, Rantanen reached 40 assists in 40 or fewer games for the second time in his career (also 32 games in 2018-19). He became the second Finnish player to achieve the feat multiple times, joining Jari Kurri (three times) … Levshunov’s goal improved the Blackhawks’ totals for points by rookies to 61, which is the most among all teams.