Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 1

[March 07, 2014]  CHICAGO — Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 1: Captain Jonathan Toews scored twice to extend his goal streak to five in three games and Andrew Shaw also netted a pair as host Chicago breezed to its 12th consecutive victory over Columbus.

Brandon Bollig and Bryan Bickell also tallied and Corey Crawford turned aside 22 shots for the Blackhawks, who improved to 5-2-1 in their last eight home games. Marcus Kruger and defenseman Brent Seabrook each notched two assists to snap the Blue Jackets' three-game winning streak.

Ryan Johansen scored his team-leading 25th goal and Sergei Bobrovsky yielded four goals on 18 shots before giving way to Curtis McElhinney (13 saves) midway through the second period.

With the score tied at 1-1, Shaw netted his first goal on a breakaway with 3:16 remaining in the first period after reeling in a brilliant long pass off the boards from defenseman Sheldon Brookbank.

Brandon Saad weaved through the defense before setting up Toews for an easy tap-in at the doorstep exactly eight minutes into the second period. Bickell cleaned up a rebound 4 1/2 minutes later before Shaw gave Chicago a 5-1 lead as he deflected Seabrook's shot from the point past McElhinney.

GAME NOTEBOOK: With Blue Jackets' Fedor Tyutin (ankle) and rookie Ryan Murray (knee) sidelined, fellow D Nikita Nikitin suffered an upper-body injury and did not return to the contest. ... Columbus D Nick Schultz blocked a team-high three shots in his first game since being acquired from Edmonton on Wednesday. ... Bollig deflected Kruger's backhander from the slot past Bobrovsky to open the scoring 4:12 into the first period. Columbus took advantage of a poor line change by Chicago as Johansen scored on a breakaway over 3 1/2 minutes later.

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