ATLANTA—Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both scored two goals and Viktor Stalberg added the winner in a shootout to help the Blackhawks snap a two-game slide with a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.The Thrashers have lost two straight overall and four of five at home.Atlanta defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who faced Hawks for the first time since being traded by the defending Stanley Cup champions, was stopped on the Thrashers’ last shootout attempt when Marty Turco reached out and poke-checked the puck away with his stick.Turco stopped 33 shots to win for the first time in three starts and improve to 7-4-1.Toews’ power-play goal 9:52 into the game made it 1-1. He then got the Blackhawks even at 3 when he stole the puck from Rich Peverley and scored on a breakaway 4:42 into the second.Toews, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP last season, stole the puck again 12 minutes later. This time he took it from goalie Ondrej Pavelec behind the net and kicked it to Kane for an easy tap-in that made it 4-4.The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead on Kane’s fifth goal 16:03 into the first.Nik Antropov‘s third goal made it 1-0 on the power play and gave the Thrashers the first goal in a home game this season.Atlanta scored three goals in the second. Evander Kane’s seventh, which came on a power play at 3:02, forced a 2-2 tie. Alexander Burmistrov’s second goal gave the Thrashers a 3-2 lead, and Peverley’s second was a power-play tally that put the Thrashers ahead 4-3.The Hawks avoided losing three straight for the first time since March 25-30.The Blackhawks became the 12th of Atlanta’s 14 opponents this season with at least 30 shots. It was the sixth time the Thrashers faced at least 40 shots.
NOTES—Joel Quenneville earned his 544th victory to take sole possession of 10th place on the NHL list, moving ahead of former Blackhawks coach Billy Reay….Jeremy Morin, who made his NHL debut, limped off the ice after he blocked a shot by Johnny Oduya early in the third.The Hawks acquired Morin in the June 24 trade that sent Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Brent Sopel to Atlanta. … Before Toews’ first goal, Atlanta had killed 16 straight penalties over six games. … The Blackhawks improved to 2-5-1 when allowing a power-play goal.