Recap
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Sunday night. The Hawks will now return home for the first time in two weeks and play the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
The Hawks and Predators played a scoreless first period which featured a few spectacular saves from Corey Crawford. The Hawks would get on the board in the second period when Marcus Kruger scored his second goal of the season when he beat Pekka Rinne with a wrist shot just over six minutes into the period. Then 66 seconds later, Jonathan Toews would deflect a Duncan Keith shot past Rinne. This was Toews sixth goal of the season.
The Hawks would coast to victory in the third period as they would add to the score when Patrick Kane shot the puck past Rinne from a bad angle that was almost parallel to the goal. The goal was eerily reminiscent of his Stanley Cup winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. Crawford made a couple more big saves and that was enough for the shutout.
What it means
The Hawks recorded their first regular season shutout in 102 regular season games. This was Crawford’s first shutout since March 23, 2011 which was the last time the Hawks had a shutout. The Hawks finish the road trip 4-0-2 and have recorded a point in their first 12 points. The Hawks lead the NHL with 22 points at the quarter point of the season.
3 stars of the game
3. Corey Crawford- Crawford played well tonight. He didn’t need to be great but he was consistent and made big saves when he was called upon. This is his first shutout in almost two years. Crawford had 17 saves on the night.
2. Jonathan Toews- Toews had a good night as well. He had one goal and was 8 for 16 in the faceoff circle. In addition, Toews blocked 2 shots.
1. Patrick Kane- Kane had a goal again tonight which was his ninth goal on the season. Kane has a 5 game goal scoring streak and has scored 7 goals in his last 5 games. He registered a point in every game on the road trip and has a 6 game point streak. On the road trip, Kane had 7 goals and 3 assists.
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