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 "I don't know," said the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender, whose
undershirt remained covered in sweat after his latest victory.
"That's hard to say."
Chicago's red-hot netminder might be the only person who struggles
with the question. Crawford stopped 25 shots to earn his
league-leading seventh shutout, and the Blackhawks cruised to a 2-0
win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.
Left wingers Artemi Panarin and Andrew Shaw scored for the
Blackhawks. Chicago (33-15-4) snapped a two-game losing streak and
improved to 21-5-1 on home ice.
Crawford made 12 saves in the first period, six saves in the second
period and seven saves in the third period to improve to 28-11-2. He
posted his fifth shutout since Dec. 11 and improved to 10-1-0 in his
past 11 contests.
"It's unbelievable," Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said.
"He seems to just find a way to stop everything. With him back
there, with either goalie, we have supreme confidence. It seems like
he has been on fire lately every time he's in there."
St. Louis (28-16-8) lost in regulation for the first time in five
games. The Blues were shut out for the fourth time this season and
the first time since Dec. 27.
St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliott turned aside 23 of 25 shots in
the loss.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Elliott was his team's best player.
He said the offense seemed to lose energy as the game progressed.
"I thought their team looked tired in the first period, and then we
didn't take advantage of it," Hitchcock said. "And then I thought we
looked tired in the second and third. ...
"We're not scoring. We're not showing the tenacity or the energy to
score the greasy goals, and that's something we'll have to address."
Panarin scored on a one-timer to put Chicago on top 1-0 with 4:34
left in the second period. Right winger Patrick Kane carried the
puck into the offensive zone and zipped a backhand pass to Panarin,
who fired a rising shot past Elliott's glove for his 17th goal of
the season and his first goal in the past five games.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville praised Kane's pinpoint pass. He said
the play showed the on-ice bond that Kane and Panarin have
developed.
"Special play," Quenneville said. "The anticipation between the two
of them is Sedin-like. One-timer, great shot. The thought process of
getting in that position, that he anticipated that play, (shows) the
play recognition and patience level with the puck between each
other."
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Chicago increased its lead to 2-0 on a power-play goal by Shaw with
15:04 to go in the third period. Right winger Marian Hossa ripped a
one-timer from the top of the right circle, and Shaw lifted his
stick parallel to the ice to deflect the shot past Elliott for his
ninth goal.
Crawford stymied St. Louis after enjoying a rare night off one game
earlier against the Florida Panthers. The 31-year-old netminder
denied a rising wrist shot by Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson and a
slap shot by defenseman Colton Parayko during a frenzied start to
the first period.
"That's a hard team," Crawford said. "It's not like you're going to
control the game all 60 minutes. We stuck with it, we didn't panic
at all, and we showed good poise. We kept playing our game and
started to make plays."
Chicago scored on its lone power-play opportunity. St. Louis was
0-for-1 on the man advantage.
Blues center Paul Stastny said he and his teammates could not afford
an inconsistent performance against a talented opponent.
"I think we have to find a way there just to get a goal and try to
get the lead in the first," Stastny said. "We had a good first
period, especially in this building, and we couldn't get out of it."
NOTES: Blackhawks LW Andrew Shaw played on the top line despite
being hit in the face with a puck and requiring 18 stitches Friday
night against the Florida Panthers. ... Blues RW Ryan Reaves was
scratched for the first time in 25 games. Reaves has two goals and
25 penalty minutes in 42 games. ... Blackhawks LW Jiri Sekac was a
healthy scratch two days after making his team debut. Chicago
acquired Sekac from the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday in exchange for LW
Ryan Garbutt. ... C David Backes appeared in his 700th career game,
all of them for St. Louis. ... Blackhawks D Rob Scuderi was a
healthy scratch for the first time in four games. Fellow D Michal
Rozsival replaced Scuderi.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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