|
 But on Tuesday night, Sharp delivered in a big way, with a goal and
an assist and goaltender Antti Niemi, also a former Blackhawk,
stopped all 20 shots he faced to earn his 35th career shutout in a
4-0 win at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
"It really wasn't that fun of a game. It's tough to play against
your friends," Sharp said. "Hockey's a game you play with a lot of
intensity, and that's hard to do against your buddies."
Sharp, acquired last summer after spending 10 seasons in Chicago,
scored his 12th goal of the season 11 seconds into the third period
to add an insurance marker to a 1-0 lead. Center Colton Sceviour
then scored at 2:57 of the third, making it 3-0.
"I don't know if it [the Sharp goal] should have been as deflating
as it was," Blackhawks center and captain Jonathan Toews said. "They
just grabbed the momentum and never let us get it back. I think we
didn't do what we had to do to take it back, either. Obviously, we
didn't have the last 20 minutes that we needed in the third."
Center Jason Spezza opened the scoring in the second period and
center Mattias Janmark closed it out in the third, making it 4-0
Dallas (26-7-2), which won its third straight.
"It was excellent," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of the victory. "I'm
proud of the way the guys played. They played hard and they played
the right way."
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville characterized both the Spezza and
Sharp goals as equally deflating.
"Yeah, the first one [goal by Spezza] was equally as bad as far as
that goes [being deflating], two big goals and then you're in a
tough spot," Quenneville said. "Otherwise, we neutralized their
scoring chances, particularly the rush game, until that point."
It was Niemi's third shutout of the season.
"It was a loud building tonight and the way both teams played showed
that (atmosphere). We played real hard and didn't give them
anything," Niemi said.
"Especially in these games against our division, that's how we want
to play every time."
Defenseman Jason Demers had two assists for Dallas.
Spezza scored a power-play goal 9:12 into the second to make it 1-0.
Spezza and Sharp played a nice game of give-and-go with Sharp
passing it back to Spezza from the Chicago blue line.
Spezza rushed up the right side of the ice and slipped a wrist shot
past the short side of Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford for his
13th goal of the season. Dallas had 15 seconds remaining on the
power play, which resulted from a holding call on Blackhawks center
Artemi Panarin at 7:27.
[to top of second column] |
Less than three minutes after Sharp's goal, Sceviour ended a 16-game
goal-less drought by redirecting a wrist shot by defenseman Jordie
Benn 2:57 into the third period.
Janmark then made it 4-0 with his eighth goal of the season with
5:24 remaining, scoring when a wrist shot from the right circle
deflected in off the left skate of Blackhawks defenseman Michal
Rozsival.
Crawford stopped 28 shots for Chicago, which was shut out for the
third time this season.
With 8:47 remaining, Blackhawks defenseman Rob Scuderi had to be
helped off the ice after taking a puck to the face.
"I haven't heard the final [word] on him but it was a pretty good
shot," Quenneville said. "But I think he's going to be OK. I've got
my fingers crossed."
Dallas is now 3-1-1 in the second game of a back-to-back. The Stars
defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-3 on Monday night at Xcel Energy
Center.
"We played a great first period coming off a late night," Ruff said.
"I was worried about the energy level going into the third. Last
night we made the decision not to bring them in at all today. The
leadership and character on this team is excellent. They paid me
back in dividends."
NOTES: Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa (upper body), C Marcus Kruger
(wrist) and D David Rundblad were scratched. ... Stars LW Travis
Moen, D Patrik Nemeth and D Jamie Oleksiak were scratched. ...
Blackhawks LW Ryan Garbutt, who spent four seasons with the Stars
(2011-15), played his first game in Dallas since being traded to
Chicago this past summer. ... Stars RW Patrick Sharp won three
Stanley Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015) during his 10-year run with the
Blackhawks ... Former Blackhawks D Johnny Oduya, who Dallas signed
as a free agent, won two cups (2013, 2015) in Chicago. ...
Blackhawks G Corey Crawford started his seventh consecutive game.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
