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 At times, the regular season can seem endless. The frequent travel
can be exhausting. Opposing teams carry extra motivation to knock
off the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Yet the Blackhawks show no signs of letting up. Team captain
Jonathan Toews will not allow it. Toews scored two goals, and the
Blackhawks matched a franchise record with their 11th consecutive
victory in a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night.
"We need to recognize that when things are clicking, you need to
keep pushing and keep building your game and not get too
comfortable," Toews said. "I think we're doing a good job of that
right now.
"We're having fun. We're riding it out right now. I don't think
we're getting too overly confident. We're just working hard, and
things are going our way."
Again and again.
Chicago (31-13-4), which has not lost a game since Dec. 27, equaled
its record-setting 11-game win streak from Feb. 15 to March 6, 2013.
The Blackhawks went on to win the Stanley Cup title that season,
marking the second of three championships in a six-season span.
Blackhawks left winger Richard Panik, right winger Patrick Kane and
right winger Marian Hossa also scored against Montreal. Chicago
improved to 28-3-2 when scoring first this season.
"I think the balance is one thing that sticks out," Chicago coach
Joel Quenneville said. "The consistency. Getting contributions
across the board. Solid in net, solid on the blue line. Up front,
much more predictable. Every night, somebody else could score."
Center Lars Eller and left winger Max Pacioretty scored for the
Canadiens. Montreal (23-19-4) dropped to 4-15-1 in its past 20
contests.
Montreal coach Michel Therrien said his players seemed to lack
energy while playing their third game in four nights. Low energy
equaled big trouble against the Blackhawks, he said.
"We just played, first of all the Stanley Cup champion, and I
believe they look better than last year," Therrien said. "They play
with a lot of confidence. They kill (penalties), they make plays in
tight. They have some really, really quality hockey players over
there. They're tough to play against."
Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 27 of 29 shots while
Montreal goaltender Ben Scrivens turned aside 28 of 32 shots.
Chicago capitalized on a two-on-one rush to grab a 1-0 lead 2:40
after the opening faceoff.
Defenseman Erik Gustafsson fed a cross-ice pass to Panik, who
blasted a one-timer from the top of the right circle for his first
goal since joining the Blackhawks on Jan. 3 in a trade with Toronto.
Montreal evened the score at 1 with 13:44 to go in the first period.
After defenseman Jeff Petry was stopped on a shot from the right
circle, Eller located the rebound and punched it into the net for
his eighth goal. The play snapped an 18-game scoring drought for
Eller, who celebrated his first goal since Dec. 3.
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The Blackhawks seized a 2-1 lead on Toews' power-play goal with 6:22
left in the second period.
Toews scored again to increase Chicago's lead to 3-1 with 1:21
remaining in the second period. He received the puck behind the net
and beat Scrivens on a backhand shot for his 19th goal.
Pacioretty scored on the power play to slice the deficit to 3-2 with
9:38 to go in the third period.
Kane answered 71 seconds later to increase Chicago's lead to 4-2.
Left winger Artemi Panarin zipped a pass to Kane, who ripped a
one-timer past Scrivens for his 29th goal.
Hossa added an empty-net goal with 1:24 remaining to make it 5-2.
Pacioretty said he and his teammates lost too many puck battles
during the game.
"There were some times in the game where it felt like we weren't at
our best," Pacioretty said. "Second to the puck."
That meant the Blackhawks were first to the puck.
"I think we're trending in the right direction," Kane said. "But not
at all satisfied."
NOTES: Blackhawks D Erik Gustafsson returned to action after missing
two games because of a right knee injury. Gustafsson joined D Brent
Seabrook on Chicago's second defensive pairing. ... Canadiens RW
Devante Smith-Pelly and D Greg Pateryn were healthy scratches for
the third consecutive game. ... The Blackhawks reassigned LW Bryan
Bickell to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs on Sunday. Bickell, 29, has
two assists in 23 games with Chicago this season. ... Canadiens G
Carey Price missed his 23rd consecutive game because of a lower-body
injury. ... Blackhawks D Rob Scuderi was a healthy scratch for the
second time in the past five games. ... Canadiens RW Dale Weise
appeared in his 300th career game.
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