A strong puck-possession game helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup three times in six years, but the defending champions are learning how to win without the puck this season. The latest example was the Blackhawks' 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at United Center, when they were outshot 13-3 in the second period and 34-26 overall. Chicago goalie Corey Crawford made 26 of 33 saves in second and third period, and the Blackhawks swept the season series against the Red Wings after winning 5-2 at Joe Louis Arena on Wednesday.
Artem Anisimov had a goal and an assist, and Artemi Panarin and Michal Rozsival each had two assists for Chicago. Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Toews each had a goal. Gustav Nyquist scored for Detroit, who played without center Pavel Datsyuk (illness).
It was one of those games Toews mentioned, despite Kane, the NHL's leading scorer, scoring 21 seconds into the game for his career-high 89th point and Keith following with a power-play goal at 6:19 of the first for a 2-0 lead.
The Red Wings replaced starting goalie Petr Mrazek with Jimmy Howard after Keith's goal, and Detroit gained momentum after Nyquist made it 2-1 at 8:34.
After a Chicago turnover, Nyquist took a pass from defenseman Danny DeKeyser and beat Crawford high to the glove side. Detroit carried play from that point until midway through the third but couldn't turn the surge into another goal.
The Red Wings went 0-for-3 on the power play Sunday and 1-for-7 in the two games. The Blackhawks, who are third in the NHL on the power play, went 2-for-3 in each game. Howard made 19 saves after replacing Mrazek, who allowed all five Blackhawks goals in the first game on 33 shots.
Howard made several saves immediately after entering the game but didn't get much work in the second period or the first 10 minutes of the third. Chicago tied its season low of three shots in a period in the second and went more than 15 minutes without a shot. Crawford helped kill off three Red Wings power plays, making three saves with the Blackhawks shorthanded in the second and three more during Detroit's carryover time with the man-advantage to start the third.
Anisimov then scored on the power play at 11:15 of the third to make it 3-1, and Toews scored 68 seconds later when Andrew Desjardins sent the puck off him and into the net.
The Red Wings were due to play next at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. It's unknown whether Datsyuk, who's day-to-day with flu symptoms, will be available. The Blackhawks, who lead the Central Division and Western Conference with 87 points, have two big division games next. They play at the St. Louis Blues (85 points) on Wednesday and at the Dallas Stars (87 points) on Friday. Chicago will try to recapture its dominance in puck possession but knows it's not a necessity to win. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews scored the second of two Blackhawks goals in the third period to seal the win. Crawford extended his NHL career-high for wins in a season to 35.
Hawks Quotes
Jonathan Toews: "In some of those [games] where we're maybe not firing on all cylinders, we're able to hang in there and give ourselves a chance in a shootout or overtime or at the end of a game. We can focus and take pride in hanging in there and just simplifying when maybe the other team is really throwing everything at us, and then see what happens. When we're able to counter, then things will go our way."Corey Crawford: "I thought our guys did a great job of keeping things to the outside and clearing rebounds. It's not necessarily how many shots you give up; it's the quality. I think we should be able to stop them if they keep shooting from the outside and the boards, but we're really limiting teams' chances from the inside."
Joel Quenneville: "I still think we can be better. The start was good. We had good stretches in the game, but then you watch the second period and we need the puck more. When we have it the whole game, we'll let you know if we like it. It's hard to play a full 60 [minutes] with the puck in today's game."
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