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 But his first career shutout? Against one of the NHL's most
talented teams?
"It's definitely something really exciting," Hutchinson said with a
smile after the Jets' 1-0 win over the Blackhawks. "Having it be a
shutout is something that's even more special. Being in this
building against the Blackhawks is something really cool that I'm
going to remember for a while."
In his second start of the season, Hutchinson stopped all 33 shots
he faced. Twenty seconds into the game, right winger Michael Frolik
scored the lone goal for the Jets (6-5-1), who won their second game
in as many nights and completed a four-game road trip by earning
seven of eight possible points.
The Blackhawks (6-5-1) lost for the fifth time in seven games as
their offensive woes continued. Despite a high-powered roster,
Chicago was shut out for the second consecutive home game and was
held to two goals or fewer for the ninth time in 12 games this
season. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 26 of 27 shots in the
loss.
"We get good chances," Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews said. "A lot
of pucks around the net tonight, they're just not going in. It's
tough to explain why that is.
"It's frustrating, but what are you going to do? You have to work
through it. You have to find a way to break out of that funk that
we're in as far as goal-scoring goes."
Winnipeg got off to a quick start when Frolik notched his first goal
of the season. Frolik corralled a rebound and fired a rising shot
above the glove of Crawford, who tried to make a sprawling save.
After jumping in front, the Jets turned to an aggressive, physical
game in which they forced Blackhawks skaters to battle for pucks
along the boards rather than allowing them easy entries into the
offensive zone. The Jets outhit the Blackhawks by a 26-16 margin,
with defenseman Jacob Trouba providing a team-leading six hits.
"They have a lot of skilled players," Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian
said of the Blackhawks. "If you give them time and space, they're
going to make a lot of great plays. If you eliminate that and you're
physical on those guys, they might think twice about stickhandling
or making that play. All four lines did a great job, all the 'D,'
and Mike in net was a key for us."
Blackhawks left winger Patrick Sharp nearly evened the score on a
breakaway with 3:40 remaining in the first period, but his shot
clanked off of the right post. In the final minute of the first
period, Hutchinson preserved a 1-0 lead by stopping left winger
Bryan Bickell on a low, hard wrist shot from the left slot.
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Winnipeg went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill to improve to 25-for-27
(92.6 percent) on the road this season. On a Blackhawks power play
in the second period, Hutchinson denied one-timers by Toews and
Sharp. Toews also hit the left post on a slap shot with 10:40
remaining in the second period.
The Jets helped Hutchinson in front of the net by blocking 30 shots.
Winnipeg defenseman Mark Stuart led the team with five blocked
shots.
"That was huge," Hutchinson said. "It really gets you excited as a
goalie when you see players laying down in front of shots and
blocking them for you."
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said his team's scoring struggles
would continue unless players crashed the net to create traffic and
generate ugly goals.
"We still have to get better net-front presence," Quenneville said.
"We've talked about that enough. It seems to be an issue. If teams
are going to play hard and they're going to try to keep it to the
outside, you've got to find a way to get inside."
NOTES: Jets G Michael Hutchinson started his second game of the
season in place of Ondrej Pavelec, who shut out the New York Rangers
one night earlier. Hutchinson, 24, was drafted in the third round by
the Boston Bruins in 2008. ... Blackhawks LW Daniel Carcillo (lower
body) missed his fifth consecutive game. ... Jets RW Anthony Peluso
(upper body) missed his sixth consecutive game. ... Blackhawks D
David Rundblad earned a spot in the lineup ahead of D Michal
Rozsival, who was a healthy scratch for the first time in four
games. ... Three players on Winnipeg won the Stanley Cup as members
of the Blackhawks: LW Andrew Ladd (2010), RW Dustin Byfuglien (2010)
and RW Michael Frolik (2013).
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