Chicago Blackhawks score 4 goals on their first 8 shots and Kevin Lankinen shines with 28 saves to beat the Dallas Stars 4-2

You’ve heard the expression that it’s quality, not quantity. The Chicago Blackhawks took that truism to ridiculous proportions in a 4-2 win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

The Hawks scored four goals on eight shots through the first two periods.

Dominik Kubalik got a nice feed from Brandon Hagel, who dug the puck out of a wall scrum and connected with Kubalik as he raced through the neutral zone. He went forehand-backhand to put the puck through Anton Khudobin’s five-hole and off his skate.

That was just one of four shots the Hawks took in the first, compared with 15 by the Stars. The Hawks’ Corsi-for percentage was just 25% in the first two periods, illustrating just how little they controlled the puck in the opening period.

But if you think that’s efficient, how about a 75% shooting percentage in second period.

The Hawks exploded for three goals in the second, led off by Carl Soderberg’s redirect off Adam Boqvist’s blast from the blue line. Duncan Keith threaded the needle on a long-range blast to Khudobin’s left side even as he slid over to cover.

Alex DeBrincat capped the scoring in the second with a wrist shot from the dot off Patrick Kane’s pass.

Jake Oettinger replaced Khudobin in the third.

Blackhawks goaltender Kevin Lankinen carried a shutout into midway through the third, but Jamie Oleksiak passed through several Hawks from below the goal line to Roope Hintz, who was camped out in front of Lankinen with no other white jerseys around and buried a shot along the ice.

About three minutes later, John Klingberg carried the puck from zone to zone barely contested before putting it into the Hawks’ net to make it 4-2.

But the Stars couldn’t add to the rally despite pulling their goalie with 3 1/2 minutes left.

Lankinen had 28 saves while Khudobin and Oettinger had four and eight, respectively.

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