Four takeaways: Blackhawks rally to beat Penguins for 10th straight time

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Here are four takeaways from the Blackhawks' 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday:

1. A streak is snapped and extended

The Penguins went into Sunday having won a season-long eight games in a row. They also went into it on a nine-game losing skid against Chicago. One of the streaks was going to be broken. 

Fortunately for the Blackhawks, it was the former that ended and the latter that extended. 

The Blackhawks put up five goals — one an empty-netter — against a Penguins team that had allowed only nine total over their eight-game winning streak. And the Blackhawks did it by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to score five of the next six goals.

It was a gutsy comeback win by the Blackhawks, who improved to 7-3-2 since their eight-game losing streak.

2. Special teams play huge factor

The Blackhawks' special teams have been getting better over the last several weeks, and it came up large in Pittsburgh.

After cutting their deficit to 2-1 late in the third period thanks to a power-play goal, the Blackhawks quickly found themselves shorthanded and were also forced to kill a 5-on-3 penalty for 1:11 in the same sequence. It was a key moment, with the Blackhawks going into first intermission down by 1 when it could've been a multi-goal deficit.

As far as the power play, the Blackhawks converted on one of three opportunities but it felt like it should have been 3-for-3 because Duncan Keith scored his goal two seconds after the second penalty expired and Dylan Strome scored seven seconds after the third expired. 

Special teams were the No. 1 reason why the Blackhawks won, and it continues to trend in the right direction.

3. Chris Kunitz breaks through on old stomping grounds

The Penguins honored their 2009 Stanley Cup team on Sunday for their 10-year anniversary. It was cool that Kunitz was in town for it, having won three of his four Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh.

The Blackhawks showed a great sign of respect by including Kunitz in the starting lineup with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad. But the memorable night didn't stop there.

In his 24th game this season, Kunitz finally found the back of the net for the first time in a Blackhawks sweater and it was only fitting that he broke through at his old stomping grounds. He got rid of the monkey off his back, which must have felt good after he's battled for ice time all year long.

4. Five different Blackhawks score

The Blackhawks got offensive contributions from up and down the lineup, and that's always a positive. Let's run it down:

— Two players scored their first goal of the season (Keith and Kunitz)

— DeBrincat scored on the power play for his 19th of the year

— Strome scored his seventh as a member of the Blackhawks

— Toews potted the empty-netter and also recorded an assist for his third six-game point streak of the season

— Patrick Kane had three assists for his 75th career three-point outing in the NHL

— Four of the six defensemen recorded at least one point

When you're firing on all cylinders and getting primary and secondary scoring, most times you're going to end up with two points. And the Blackhawks did.

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