The Blackhawks’ scoring woes continued as Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped all 31 shots he faced to lift Arizona to a 1-0 win over Chicago on Tuesday at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Nick Cousins scored a power-play goal in the third period for Arizona, who moved into a tie with the Avalanche at 81 points. Colorado holds the second wild card in the Western Conference with one additional game played.
Chicago is five points back of Arizona and Colorado with six games remaining. The Blackhawks have scored only nine goals in their last six games. Corey Crawford made 27 saves in the loss.
It’s the third shutout loss for Chicago this season and first since Nov. 10 at Philadelphia. All three shutouts have come on the road.
The first two periods offered little offense with neither team scoring generating more than 12 shots in a period.
Artem Anisimov had the Blackhawks’ best scoring chance in the second period when he got behind the Coyotes, but fired wide of the net. Chicago then were denied on their first power play of the game midway through the middle frame.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson intercepted a Marcus Kruger clearing attempt, and set up Cousins in front. Cousins followed up his own rebound after Connor Murphy passed it right to him to end a 19-game goal drought at 5:40 of the third.
Former Coyotes Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini nearly tied it late in the third. Strome sent a pass to Perlini in the slot, but Kuemper made a left pad save.
Duncan Keith tried to stop a breakaway and took a tripping penalty against Logan Crouse for the Blackhawks to go to the penalty kill with 1:49 remaining in the game.
Anisimov and Brandon Saad both managed to create shorthanded scoring chances, but Kuemper made the stops.
SCH’s Three Stars
- Darcy Kuemper — 31-save shutout
- Nick Cousins — 1 power-play goal
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson — 1 assist
Who’s next?
The Blackhawks play the second game of a three-game road trip Thursday when they visit the Sharks in San Jose.