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 However, a good share of the discussion after a 3-1 victory against
the Carolina Hurricanes was simply about the splendid work of goalie
Corey Crawford.
Crawford stopped 43 shots, including 34 across the final two periods
at PNC Arena.
"He was the best player tonight," said Chicago center Andrew Shaw,
who scored two goals. "We thank him for the two points."
Shaw and left winger Patrick Sharp scored first-period goals, and
those held up with Crawford handling the workload.
Shaw added an empty-net goal with 40 seconds left, with center
Jonathan Toews notching an assist on the play for his 500th career
point.
"We had some great goaltending," Toews said, deflecting attention
from his accomplishment.
It was the 750th NHL career coaching victory for Chicago's Joel
Quenneville, who has 312 wins with the Blackhawks.
Crawford improved his record to 30-15-5 this season. He was within
three saves of matching his career high in that category.
"I thought he was good throughout," Carolina coach Bill Peters said.
Carolina's goal came from center Victor Rask at 3:54 of the second
period. Goalie Anton Khudobin made 22 saves.
The Hurricanes, who are winless in the past four games (0-2-2), were
playing for the first time since they were mathematically eliminated
from playoff contention.
Carolina's 44 shots marked the third most of the season for the
team.
"They played great, so hats off to them," Shaw said of the effort
displayed by the Hurricanes.
Toews, 26, has 60 points this season, ranking second on the team. He
said the late-game assist wasn't the most glamorous way to reach a
milestone.
"It's kind of a cool thing to think about," he said of 500 points,
"but the main thing is we got two points."
Those are becoming vital for Chicago, which is 7-1-1 in its past
nine games. The Blackhawks earned a 22nd road victory, matching the
highest total in that column of any Western Conference team.
The Blackhawks scored on their first two shots 79 seconds apart.
Center Marcus Kruger, behind the net, set up Shaw with a pass for
the opening score at 7:48 of the opening period.
The second goal came when right winger Marian Hossa fed Sharp, who
never broke his skating stride in redirecting the puck into the net.
"Very similar (to other games), a little bit of a hard time scoring,
but we didn't start on time," Peters said. "I thought our 'D' was
really good from the start of the second, (but) we weren't sharp
early."
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Peters said the Blackhawks' motivation was evident in the early
stages of the game.
"You have to understand these teams are desperate for points,
especially coming in here after a loss," he said. "I like our team.
I really do. I don't like the fact that we didn't play 60 minutes
tonight."
Rask scored when he trailed teammate Eric Staal, a center whose shot
was blocked. Rask converted the rebound.
Carolina recorded 17 of the first 18 shots on goal in the second
period, scoring one goal during that span.
"We didn't really sustain the effort," Toews said. "We gave them all
the reason to keep believing."
The Blackhawks were in a scrambling mode for chunks of the game.
With 25 blocked shots, they showed the ability to recover enough in
several critical situations.
Khudobin made his fifth consecutive start, matching the longest
streak of starts by a Carolina goalie this season.
Carolina played its last game against a Western Conference team this
season. The Hurricanes ended up 9-16-3 in interconference matchups.
NOTES: The teams met earlier this month, with Chicago winning 5-2 on
March 2 at home. That began a stretch of points in seven consecutive
games for the Blackhawks, who had the streak snapped in their most
recent outing, a 4-0 loss to the Stars in Dallas on Saturday. ... C
Victor Rask is the first Carolina rookie to reach the 10-goal mark
since C Jeff Skinner in 2010-11. He posted his 11th goal Monday. ...
The Hurricanes scratched D Brett Bellemore. ... Chicago plays the
Flyers in Philadelphia on Wednesday. ... The Hurricanes play the
third game in their five-game homestand Thursday against the
Pittsburgh Penguins. ... Referee Paul Devorski worked his final game
in Raleigh. He will retire at the end of the season.
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