Alex DeBrincat scored the deciding goal late in the first period, and Corey Crawford made 26 saves as the visiting Chicago Blackhawks outlasted the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Saturday in a key Western Conference dustup.

The Blackhawks captured consecutive wins for the first time since Feb. 18 and 20. They are 3-4-0 in their past seven games and climbed to within seven points of Minnesota with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

Anton Khudobin turned away 37 of the 39 shots he faced as Dallas had a four-game win streak snapped and settled for a 2-1 homestand. The Stars play their next two games on the road, beginning Tuesday in Buffalo.

Despite the loss, the Stars held onto the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, a point ahead of idle Minnesota. Dallas fell to 6-3-0 in its past nine games and wasted the opportunity to move to within two points of third-place St. Louis in the Central Division standings.

David Kampf granted Chicago the lead at the 5:10 mark of the first period when he rushed up the ice as part of a 2-on-1 breakaway with Chris Kunitz and wristed Kunitz's give-and-go pass past Khudobin.

The Stars needed just over a minute to answer as Alexander Radulov slid across the crease and collected a feed from Tyler Seguin before beating Crawford with a backhand shot.

Radulov's goal was his fourth in the past two games after he earned his first NHL hat trick in a 4-0 win over Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

DeBrincat pushed the Blackhawks back in front when he was sent in alone on a breakaway against Khudobin by a clearing pass from Patrick Kane and scored with 36 seconds to play in the opening period.

--Field Level Media