Recap
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday. Next up is the Minnesota Wild at the United Center on Tuesday night.
The Blackhawks would come out and dominate the play through the first half of the game. At one point they had an 18-5 edge in shots at the midway point of the second period. But there would be no scoring through the first two periods. The only action involved Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard making several stellar saves.
The Red Wings would ride the momentum from a second period power play in the third period. They would get on the board 2:43 into the third period when Joakim Andersson found Tomas Tatar in front of the net for a one time goal on a goal that is similar to what Andrew Shaw and the third line has been doing the past week. The Red Wings would stifle the Hawks for the majority of the third period. Meanwhile all Crawford did was make several acrobatic saves to keep the Hawks in the game. Then with a little more than two minutes to go, the Hawks were given a gift power play when Jonathan Ericsson took a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing power play the Hawks would get on the board when Patrick Kane ripped a wrist shot on a rebound top shelf past Howard.
Neither team could capitalize in overtime as everything was hit but the back of the net. There were several more huge saves including one by Crawford where he got his shoulder on a Johan Franzen shot to just deflect it enough where it hit the crossbar. The game would go to a shootout. First up was Pavel Datsyuk who was stopped by the stick of Crawford. Next was Jonathan Toews who was stopped by the glove of Howard. Super rookie Damien Brunner was next as he tried slow playing the puck. However, he played one too many moves and lost control of the puck without getting off a shot. The master of slow playing a puck was next and showed the kid how it was done. Ironic since Brunner is actually older than Kane. After about fifteen back and forth dekes, Kane ripped a shot high and past the stick side shoulder of Howard into the net. Henrik Zetterberg was next and stopped by Crawford.
What it means
The Hawks were absolutely playing on fumes today as they played their second stretch of 3 games in 4 days in the past 10 days. The streak is now at 28 games without a regulation loss and they are tied for the second longest streak in NHL history with the 1977-1978 Montreal Canadians. The Hawks are 19-0-3 with 41 points best in the NHL. In addition, the Hawks tied a franchise record with their 9th consecutive win.
3 stars of the game
3. Jimmy Howard- Howard was sensational all day. He kept the Red Wings in the game for the first 30 minutes while waiting for his team to wake up. Howard faced a barrage all day long and was responsible for Detroit getting a point in the game. Howard had 32 saves on 33 shots and was spectacular.
2. Patrick Kane- Kane was clutch today. He scored his 11th goal of the season to tie the game and keep the streak going. Then his goal in the shootout was absolutely sick as he slowed down and methodically deked back and forth until ripping a shot past Howard. It was a ridiculous display of skill on the game winner.
1. Corey Crawford- All three stars were playing at an extremely high level. Crawford was sensational in the third period as he made numerous highlight saves. He stonewalled Zetterberg on one and stopped a one timer as he dove across the crease. Crawford saved 32 of 33 shots and all three in the shootout improving his record to 1-3 in shootouts this year.
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