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Patrick Kane reaches 100 points, Chicago Blackhawks beat Boston Bruins

By Tom Musick, The Sports Xchange
Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane. Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane. Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane smiled at the timing of his latest milestone.

On the third goal of a hat trick, Kane secured the first 100-point campaign of his career.

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"It's a special day," Kane said. "It's pretty cool the way it happened."

Kane's scoring outburst led the Blackhawks to a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday afternoon. Chicago (46-26-7) jumped to a 6-0 lead before Boston responded with four straight goals.

Artemi Panarin scored a goal and tallied three assists for his second consecutive four-point performance. Artem Anisimov finished with a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks won their second straight contest.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville praised his team's fast start.

"That was as good as we've played, but I think that's the pace we're going to have to play at (with) consistency and purpose," said Quenneville, who earned his 800th career win. "You can't make mistakes like that (late in the game) that can get the other team momentum or excited."

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Patrice Bergeron tallied two goals and an assist for the Bruins. Brad Marchand contributed a goal and an assist for Boston (41-30-8), which dropped to 2-7-0 since March 15.

Bergeron said Boston's late comeback did not forgive a sloppy start.

"This time of year, with what's at stake, we have to be a lot better," Bergeron said. "The focus is definitely what cost us the game early on by making some mistakes."

Chicago goaltender Scott Darling stopped 42 of 46 shots to improve to 11-8-3.

Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask allowed four goals on 22 shots before he was replaced early in the second period. Jonas Gustavsson turned aside 10 of 12 shots in relief.

Chicago grabbed a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Anisimov with 6:46 to play in the first period. Panarin botched a slap shot from the left circle, but the puck skidded to Anisimov for his 20th goal.

Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago on top 2-0 with 2:19 remaining in the first period. Bruins defenseman Joe Morrow lost the puck to Kane, who beat Rask with a backhand shot.

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Fifty-four seconds into the second period, Kane scored again to increase Chicago's lead to 3-0.

"Our line was creating a lot," Kane said. "We had a lot of chances, so it was just a fun night overall."

Chicago chased Rask when Jonathan Toews increased the lead to 4-0 with 18 minutes remaining in the second period.

Rask made no excuses after the loss.

"It's just about keeping your head in the game and trying to make strong plays," Rask said.

Panarin scored on a one-timer to make it 5-0 with 14:43 to go in the second period. Kane fed a cross-ice pass to Panarin, who buried a slap shot for the 28th goal of his rookie campaign.

Kane completed his second career hat trick to increase the lead to 6-0 with 5:44 remaining in the second period. Raucous fans tossed hats on the ice as Kane celebrated the hat trick and his first 100-point season.

"That's a mark you always kind of dream of hitting," said Kane, who has 43 goals and 57 assists. "For it to happen this year in front of the home crowd with a few games left is pretty special."

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Boston broke the shutout on a breakaway goal by David Pastrnak in the final minute of the second period.

Eleven seconds later, Bergeron scored to cut the deficit to 6-2.

Boston trimmed the lead to 6-3 on Bergeron's second goal with 17:21 to play in the third period. Loui Eriksson slid a pass to Bergeron, who lifted a shot into the net for his career-best 32nd goal.

Marchand scored to pull the Bruins within 6-4 with 10:09 remaining in the third period.

"We can't wait for them to score (six) goals to get going," Bergeron said.

NOTES: Blackhawks G Corey Crawford worked out on the ice for the second consecutive day before Sunday's game. Crawford has missed the past nine games because of an upper-body injury, but the team hopes to have him available for the playoffs. "We feel he's turned a big corner," coach Joel Quenneville said. ... Bruins D Kevan Miller missed the game because of a lower-body injury that he sustained Friday against St. Louis. Fellow D Zach Trotman replaced Miller on the blue line. ... Blackhawks D Duncan Keith served the second game of a six-game suspension for high-sticking Minnesota Wild C Charlie Coyle. ... Bruins D Dennis Seidenberg missed his second straight game because of a lower-body injury. Seidenberg remained in Boston instead of traveling with the team. ... Blackhawks RW Andrew Shaw missed his first game of the season because of an upper-body injury.

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