Patrick Kane scored his 11th goal of the season for his 700th career NHL point to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Kane had a goal and an assist to become the seventh player in franchise history to reach the 700-point milestone.
Corey Crawford helped out the Hawks (23-10-5) in the crease in more ways than one. He stopped 36 shots and drew a penalty midway through the second period, which led to a Jonathan Toews power-play goal and an eventual 3-2 victory for the Hawks to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Hawks remain atop the Western Conference by one point over the Minnesota Wild, who won their 12th consecutive game Thursday.
Down 2-1 in the third after Mike Fisher’s goal on the man advantage, Crawford drew a penalty when he stuck his left leg out as Craig Smith skated across the crease, drawing contact. On the ensuing power play, Toews deflected a Brent Seabrook shot from the blue line past Pekka Rinne to tie it 2-2.
Minutes later, Kane rocketed a shot past Rinne to give the Hawks their fourth straight road victory and first in Nashville this season. Rinne finished with 20 saves as the Predators drop their third straight game.
Artem Anisimov scored his 16th goal of the season on the power play to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. It was the second straight game Anisimov found the net. He’s now tied with Marian Hossa, who missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury, for the team lead in goals. Artemi Panarin recorded an assist on the goal to extend his career-high point streak to nine games with 15 points during that span.
The lead lasted 35 seconds, as Ryan Johansen kept a clearing attempt in and sent a feed to Filip Forsberg, who fired a shot past Crawford to make it 1 apiece. Fisher scored his 10th goal of the season on the man advantage for a 2-1 lead, but Toews answered 11 minutes into the third.
Kane skated into the right circle and buried an unassisted goal for the final tally.
Turning Point
Crawford stuck out his left leg to draw a penalty against Mike Smith, which led to Toews’ power play goal.
Crawford literally stuck out his leg to initiate contact. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/WS0ngGWkKQ
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 30, 2016
SCH 3 Stars
1. Kane (1G, 1A)
2. Crawford (36 saves)
3. Ryan Johansen (2A)
Play of the game
Duncan Keith made a sliding stop to breakup a Predators scoring chance. His stop on the defensive end would lead to Toews’ goal to tie it up 2-2.
What’s next
The Blackhawks will head to Carolina for the second half of a back-to-back to close out the 2016 calendar year.