Patrick Kane scored his 29th goal of the season, Jonathan Toews added another pair of scores and the Blackhawks coasted to a 5-2 victory over the Canadiens on Sunday night. Chicago has now taken a firm grip on first place in the Central Division with its franchise record-tying 11th straight victory.
The Blackhawks looked to come out with strong start and dominate a Montreal team that had lost a tough game in OT on Saturday night. The first period tonight featured a strike two minutes in as Richard Panik put one past Habs netminder Ben Scrivens for his first goal as a Hawk after taking advantage of an amazing pass from Erik Gustafsson. The Habs returned the favor just minutes later as Lars Eller buried a Corey Crawford rebound. Halfway through the first, the score remained tied with neither team taking charge of any phase of the game. The first period ended with SOG 10-6 in favor of the Hawks.
The second period featured penalties and power plays for both sides, beginning with a tripping penalty on Torrey Mitchell that sent the Hawks to their first power play of the evening. After a few Hawks chances, Montreal killed off the penalty and the score remained tied. Alex Galchenyuk had a good chance midway through the period turned away by Crawford just before the Hawks headed to their second power play after Mitchell was sent to the box once again. The Hawks were unable to capitalize on the man advantage, which featured a close call on a shortie by Paul Byron. Seconds later the Hawks went to the kill again after Toews took a seat for hooking, then Tomas Plekanec headed to the box and more 4-on-4 hockey ensued. Once back on the power play, Toews, with an assist from Marian Hossa, put one past Scrivens to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. With 1:21 remaining in the period, the captain collected his second goal of the game and the Hawks took a 3-1 lead at the intermission. SOG were 25-16 in favor of the Hawks.
The Canadiens came out with some jump at the start of the third period and had a several strong chances all of which were turned aside by Crawford. The home team was struggling to clear the puck and establish any presence in the offensive zone, however. P.K. Subban was sent to the box at 5:55 for tripping and the Hawks took to their fourth power play of the game. Despite several quality chances, they came up empty. Minutes later the trading of power plays continued with Trevor van Riemsdyk sent off for a delay of game. This time the Habs converted and the Hawks took a slim one-goal lead into the last nine minutes of regulation.
Seconds later, the powerhouse duo of Artemi Panarin and Kane answered and the Hawks took back their two goal. It was an astonishing score set up by Panarin’s fantastic effort to pass to himself off the boards in order to enter the offensive zone. An empty net tally by Hossa, his eighth of the season, ended the game giving the Hawks a win and tying the franchise record for consecutive wins by an Original Six team. The ENG had originally been given to Duncan Keith.
The Blackhawks will take to the road for three games this week facing division foe Nashville before traveling to Florida to face the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. They’re 19-4-0 since dropping back-to-back games in early December. The Habs, meanwhile, are now 4-15-1 since opening December with a victory.