Ben Smith had a goal and an assist while Klas Dahlbeck scored his first NHL goal and Patrick Kane found the back of the net for the Blackhawks to win their eighth straight game Thursday night in Boston.
Reilly Smith and Torey Krug scored for the Bruins, but Blackhawks rookie goaltender Scott Darling shut down Boston the rest of the way to earn the 3-2 victory.
The Blackhawks won their 13th game in their last 15 outings, but lost their captain Jonathan Toews in the process during the second period when Bruins’ defenseman Dennis Seidenberg crunched him into the boards.
Toews was slow to get up as Seidenberg skated to the penalty box for boarding, but never left the ice. He skated during the ensuing 5-on-3 power-play, during which he took a hooking penalty, before heading to the locker room. Assistant coach Mike Kitchen said on the Blackhawks’ TV broadcast during the intermission that keeping Toews out of the third period was a precautionary move.
The NHL will review the hit by Seidenberg. There is no decision on a hearing yet. Toews, meanwhile, appears to be alright — Coach Q said as much after the game — though the head injuries can certainly be scary. Any caution from the team seems justified at this point.
The Blackhawks’ fourth line of Daniel Carcillo, Marcus Kruger and Smith scored five points in the first period alone with Kruger adding two assists. The DMB line looked strong from the start when the former Boston College star sent a feed from behind the net to Dahlbeck at the top of the circle, that sailed over the left shoulder of Bruins’ goaltender Tuukka Rask midway through the first.
It was the 19th time this season the Blackhawks have scored first, who are now 16-3-0 when doing so and 12-1 after leading entering the second period.
Patrick Kane’s goal in the second was the first goal for the PB&K line in four games.
The Blackhawks travel to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum to face the New York Islanders on Saturday to cap their four-game road trip.
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