CHICAGO, March 18 (UPI) -- Derian Hatcher ripped a slap shot past Jocelyn Thibeault with 5:43 remaining in the third period Monday night as the Dallas Stars rallied for a 2-2 tie with the Chicago Blackhawks.
It marked the third straight draw for each team. The tie enabled Dallas to move one point ahead of Vancouver in the battle for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
The Blackhawks had their winless streak extended to four games (0-1-3), but they moved four points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Alexei Zhamnov gave Chicago a 1-0 lead 3:20 into the game before Dallas tied the contest on Joe Nieuwendyk's power-play goal with 6:48 left in the first.
The Blackhawks grabbed a 2-1 lead on Jaroslav Spacek's goal with 9:37 remaining in the second period.
