|
 Center Jonathan Toews and right winger Marian Hossa scored two goals
apiece, while Toews and left winger Patrick Sharp both added a pair
of assists, as the Blackhawks smothered the slumping New York
Islanders 4-1.
"It was certainly fun to watch," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville
said. "They made some nice plays, be it off the rush, in zone, the
quickness, strength in the puck area, influencing turnover pucks and
transitionally. They were really effective and dangerous all game
long. Nice to see them have a big night like that."
Toews' 22nd and 23rd goals of the season, both coming on backhand
shots past New York goalie Michal Neuvirth in the first period,
stoked Chicago to a 2-0 lead and the Islanders would never recover.
"I just focused on making plays and the lucky ones seemed to go in
tonight," Toews said. "We were just making plays and not really
expecting much and we got bounces.
"Hoss and I probably fed off of Sharpie's momentum coming out of the
last game. It was good to have some success as a line and make the
difference tonight."
Hossa, meanwhile, nailed his 20th and 21st goals of the season --
one each in the second and third periods.
Chicago has now won its last three games and five of its last six to
improve to 42-21-6.
New York, however, continues to freefall. The Islanders (43-25-4)
have now lost four straight and seven of their last nine.
To say the least, Islanders coach Jack Capuano was quite unhappy
with his team's performance.
"We had a five-minute power play, we didn't score," Capuano said.
"We didn't give them anything in the second or third period. End of
story."
New York's only goal of the game came on left winger Nikolay
Kulemin's 13th goal of the season at 5:29 of the third period.
Despite having his shutout bid spoiled, Chicago goalie Corey
Crawford still improved to 29-14-5, stopping 38 of 39 shots by the
Islanders.
Neuvirth stopped 26 of Chicago's 30 shots and falls to 7-19-4 on the
season.
Chicago center Andrew Shaw was whistled for a five-minute penalty
for head-butting, as well as a game misconduct at 5:30 of the second
period.
Toews scored his two goals at 7:01 and 16:04 of the first period,
both on backhanded shots past Neuvirth.
[to top of second column] |
Hossa made it 3-0 at 13:55 of the second period on a 20-foot slap
shot. Hossa would then make it 4-0 just 57 seconds into the third
period when he tipped in a crossing pass through the Islander's goal
crease from Sharp.
Islanders center John Tavares came into the game as the NHL's
leading scorer with 72 points, but failed to tally in the game.
"We just did not do anything well," Tavares said. "We didn't
execute, looked slow, watching them play and make plays. Losing
battles. It's just not good enough."
Chicago begins a four-game roadtrip starting Wednesday night against
the Rangers in New York.
The Islanders, meanwhile, get a chance to regroup from their recent
dive, not playing again until Saturday at New Jersey, before
beginning a four-game homestand next Tuesday vs. Minnesota.
NOTES: Chicago D Brent Seabrook played in his 750th NHL game. ...
Originally slated to be a healthy scratch earlier in the day,
Chicago F Kris Versteeg suited up to play, a decision by coach Joel
Quenneville after the morning skate. Versteeg did not score a goal
in his previous seven games and saw his playing time decrease during
his scoring slump. ... Chicago F Joakim Nordstrom will serve the
final game of his two-game suspension for his hit on Arizona D
Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Thursday. ... Scratches for Chicago were D
David Rundblad, LW Daniel Carcillo and C Joakim Nordstrom. ... New
York G Michal Neuvirth once again filled in for Jaroslav Halak, who
remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The Islanders recalled
G Kevin Poulin from Bridgeport (Conn.) of the AHL. ... D Nick Leddy
(upper-body injury), D Lubomir Visnovsky, RW Colin McDonald, LW Eric
Boulton and RW Michael Grabner sat out for the Islanders. ...
Attendance was 22,080.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
