NHL - Hawks - Round Up - December 29-30 2016

Hawks @ Nashville Predators 3-2 - Thursday, December 29, 2016

Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal and had an assist to reach 700 NHL points in a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
Kane ended a 2-2 tie at 14:48 of the third period for the milestone point. He led the rush and took a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne for his 11th goal. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews tied the game 2-2 at 11:04 of the third period on the power play. Defenseman Brent Seabrook took the original shot from the point, and Toews redirected the puck past Rinne for his sixth goal. Mike Fisher gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 6:13 of the third period on the power play. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm skated to the left faceoff circle and passed the puck to Fisher in the slot, and Fisher beat Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford for his 10th goal. Crawford finished with 36 saves. Artem Anisimov gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 13:19 of the first period on the power play. Defenseman Duncan Keith took the original shot from the point, and Anisimov redirected it past Rinne for his 16th goal. Rinne has 20 saves. Predators forward Filip Forsberg tied the game 35 seconds later on a one-timer from above the left faceoff circle. Forward Ryan Johansen got the puck at the point and passed it to Forsberg, who shot it past Crawford for his seventh goal of the season and his fourth in the past five games. Predators forward James Neal sustained an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell was a healthy scratch, breaking his streak of 423 consecutive regular-season games.

* Toews' goal. Kane set up Seabrook for a one-timer at the point, and Toews was all alone next to Rinne.

* Crawford made a pad save on Forsberg in the second period off of a one-timer on the rush. Forsberg got off the one-timer from the left faceoff circle, and Crawford got his right pad on the puck to direct it away from the net.

* Crawford drew a tripping penalty against Predators forward Craig Smith in the goal crease in the third period that led to Toews' goal to tie the game 2-2.
* Kane's goal started in the defensive zone. He waited for the play to develop into a 4-on-2 rush, then took a shot that beat Rinne on the glove side.
* Kane's 700 points (262 goals, 438 assists) have come in 696 NHL games. ... Toews has two goals in his past three games after having gone 13 games without a goal. … The Predators have gone 2-4-3 in their past nine home games after starting the season 8-1-1 at home.

"It probably means I'm getting older, so that's one thing, and also that I've played with a lot of good players in my time here with the Blackhawks. Pretty cool number. To be honest with you, I didn't even know that was 700. They kind of told me on the bench after but pretty cool to reach those milestones."
"I was surprised that the defenseman didn't pinch there. The next thing I knew, the bench was yelling '3-on-2' and then '4-on-2,' so you just try to have confidence in yourself there, try and make a good play. Their [defense] kind of backed up so I thought with a couple of guys driving to the net I could take a shot there." Kane said.

"I think we had a couple of power plays where the puck movement was good and a couple where we just didn't quite get our setup, but when we get those shots from the top and we get that net presence, I think whether it goes in right away or we get second chances, that's where you're going to create in this League. It was nice to get two big ones for us tonight." Toews said.

Hawks @ Carolina Hurricanes - Friday, December 30, 2016


The Carolina Hurricanes extended their home point streak to 11 games with a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at PNC Arena. Carolina (16-12-7) is 10-0-1 during the streak and 5-1-1 in its past seven games. The Hurricanes have won three straight against the Blackhawks (23-11-5) dating to last season.
Elias Lindholm, Lee Stempniak and Jay McClement scored for Carolina. Michal Kempny and Vinnie Hinostroza scored, and Scott Darling made 25 saves for Chicago. Jonathan Toews assisted on both goals for the Blackhawks, who are 1-3-1 in their past five games. This was the Blackhawks' final game before playing the St. Louis Blues in the 2017 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Busch Stadium on Monday. The Hurricanes made it 3-1 at 2:54 of the third period when McClement scored off a turnover by Patrick Kane. Hinostroza pulled the Blackhawks within 3-2 at 5:49 when Toews shot the puck off him. Chicago is 14-6-5 in one-goal games. The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead at 6:36 of the first period on Kempny's first NHL goal. He also assisted on Hinostroza's goal for the first multipoint game in the NHL. Lindholm made it 1-1 with his fourth goal at 8:32. Stempniak scored his eighth goal 1:05 later. Carolina outshot Chicago 16-8 in the period. The Blackhawks had more puck possession in the second period, outshooting the Hurricanes 10-6.

* McClement made Kane pay for a turnover in the Blackhawks zone less than three minutes into the third period. Kane's pass from the left-wing wall went straight to McClement, who sent the puck past Darling.

* Ward left his crease and whiffed at the puck late in the second period. He fell to the ice but made a save at 6:03 when Hinostroza's shot hit him in the mask.

* Toews set up each Blackhawks goal with smart plays. On the first, he got to a loose puck and passed to Kempny for a one-timer. On the second, Toews created a shot and put the puck off Hinostroza's left knee into the net.

* Stempniak finished a nice play by his linemates. After former Blackhawks center Teuvo Teravainen shot from the left wing, Sebastian Aho redirected the puck into Darling's left pad. Stempniak scored off the rebound.

* The Blackhawks played without injured right wing Marian Hossa (upper body) for the fourth straight game. Hossa hopes to return against the Blues in the Winter Classic. … Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and is week to week. … Lindholm (upper body) didn't play in the third period.

"Against Minnesota [last season] we weren't too happy with that effort, so you just look at the last number of outdoor games that we've played, our record hasn't been that great. I think we can look at it that way. And after the fact they're big points for us in our division, that St. Louis and [the Minnesota Wild] are really close to us. We want to start getting on the winning trend again and we'll have that opportunity in a couple days." -- Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews on the Winter Classic

"I liked the play we made on the goal [by Kempny], and then they made a couple plays around our net that we were a little sloppy, and we don't give up those kind of goals." Joel Quenneville said. "I thought all three goals could've been prevented."