Only in the very forgiving NHL can a team lose twice in overtime in the span of a week and still keep a consecutive-point streak alive.
In the case of Thursday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center, however, the one point the Blackhawks earned was not only just, but hard-earned.
Pierre Turgeon sent a shot past a sprawling Jocelyn Thibault after a mad scramble in front of the Hawks’ goal to give Dallas the extra point with 16 seconds remaining in overtime.
For the Hawks to get their point, they had to overcome a two-goal deficit in the second of back-to-back games, and on the road against the team with the best record in the league.
“That was a character point,” Hawks coach Brian Sutter said. “We could have hung our head when we were down like that. That’s pretty important.”
Sergei Berezin had a pair of goals for the Hawks, including the tying goal at 7 minute 42 seconds of the third period to bring the Hawks back from 3-1.
“We didn’t get what we came here for,” Berezin said. “It’s an important point for us, coming back. But I thought we deserved better.”
After failing to score in 65 minutes Wednesday against an emergency call-up from the minors, it took the Hawks just 3 minutes 26 seconds to solve the top-ranked goalie in the league Thursday.
The Hawks trailed 3-2 in the third when Steve Poapst sent a shot from the point past Marty Turco.
Thursday was the 11th straight game in which the Hawks have earned at least a point and the 15th in the last 16. The other side of the coin is that the Hawks haven’t won a game in their last four.
“We still would like the two points,” Steve Sullivan said. “We battled back for the one point, but we gave them the extra one, which is very disappointing.”
