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 Filling in for Cam Ward, who was given the night off after a home
win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Lack (4-6-2) was
exceptional against the defending Stanley Cup champs, stopping 35 of
36 shots on goal. He lost his shutout bid with three seconds
remaining.
"It's huge," Carolina coach Bill Peters said of both the game and
Lack's play. "Anytime you can get a two-goal lead, it changes things
a little bit.
"They came (hard) in the third, but I thought our effort was good,
our structure was good. Did a lot of good things. Would've been nice
to have a little more wiggle room coming down the stretch, but
(Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford) played good, too."
Behind goals from defenseman Justin Faulk and center Victor Rask,
Carolina (15-16-5) won its third game in the past four and improved
its road record to 8-8-2.
Hurricanes right winger Kris Versteeg was happy with the win, but
there was a bit of a strange feeling defeating his former team.
"In back-to-backs when you're playing a team like the Hawks, it's
always tough, so it was nice to get a win," Versteeg said. "(I)
never beat the Hawks playing against them before, so it always feels
nice.
"It's somewhere I made home for quite a while. I really enjoyed
every moment of it. I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of
successes (in Chicago), so to come back and see a lot of my really
good and close friends today was good, and to beat them feels
better."
In absorbing its second consecutive loss, Chicago (20-13-4) avoided
its second shutout in a row and what would have been its fourth of
the season. Defenseman Brent Seabrook collected his sixth goal of
the season in the dying seconds.
"We had a few good chances, but not enough," Chicago right winger
Marian Hossa said following his return to the lineup after missing
the previous two games with an upper-body injury. "And when we did,
the goalie saw everything. We got a goal at the end, but it was too
late.
"Obviously, we didn't take advantage. Like I said, this game, we
played it a little bit different. We didn't have enough bodies going
to the net and sacrificing and getting the ugly goals."
One consolation for the defending Stanley Cup champions is they
still are one of the most dominating teams at home in the NHL this
season: 14-5-1 at the United Center.
The two teams were mirror images of each other for most of the first
two periods, playing each other evenly.
Carolina outshot Chicago 12-11 in the first period. In the second
period, each team had just six shots.
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"I thought that we got a little bit more predictable and then we
were more effective," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "They
blocked a lot of shots, but we were looking to make too many plays,
either entering their zone or into the slot, that were denied.
"We have to get greasier goals. That's how you score in our league.
You have to take it to the net. I counted about six chances that
were either empty net or potential empty nets that we either
misfired or didn't bear down or weren't hungry enough."
After almost two full periods of scoreless play, Faulk scored his
14th goal of the season with 19 seconds left in the second period on
a wrist shot past Crawford (18-10-2) to put Carolina ahead 1-0.
Faulk's goal tied him for the team lead with left winger Jeff
Skinner and gave him a team-high 30 points this season.
Carolina made it 2-0 at 4:48 of the third period when Rask sank a
30-foot wrist shot over Crawford's left shoulder for his 10th goal
of the season.
Chicago outshot Carolina 19-9 in the third period, but ran out of
time to tie the game.
Crawford stopped 25 of 27 shots.
NOTES: Carolina listed just two scratches: C Brad Malone and D
Michal Jordan. Chicago had three scratches: D David Rundblad, C
Marcus Kruger and LW Brandon Mashinter. ... Former Blackhawks RW
Kris Versteeg and LW Joakim Nordstrom, now with the Hurricanes,
received cheers during pregame introductions. ... Blackhawks RW
Marian Hossa returned to the lineup after missing the last two games
due to an upper-body injury. Also returning to the ice was D Rob
Scuderi, who left Tuesday's game at Dallas after being hit in the
face with a puck. The injury required 25 stitches, Scuderi told the
Chicago Tribune, adding, "It made for some interesting family
photos, but it'll still be memorable." ... Chicago D Brent Seabrook
played in his 800th NHL game Sunday, while G Corey Crawford is just
two games away from playing in 300 NHL games.
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