There has been little star power during the Stanley Cup Final.

Captain Jonathan Toews (a goal and assist) and Patrick Kane (one assist) have combined for three points for the Blackhawks.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has one assist in his past six games dating to the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers.

”Just sticking with it,” Stamkos said. ”Obviously, I expect more from myself. And hopefully it will come out today and help our team win.”

—

8:02 p.m.

The first four games of the Stanley Cup Final have been so tight, it is hard to tell who has the edge in play.

Each of the first three games featured two lead changes. Neither team has yet to enjoy a two-goal lead. Each team has scored nine goals.

The first four games were decided by one goal. Should Game 5 be another one-goal margin, it would mark only the second time to happen in the final. Toronto beat Montreal in 1951 in a series in which all five games were decided in overtime.

The Lightning have enjoyed a lead for a little over 92 minutes, while the Blackhawks have had the lead for just over 25 minutes.

—

8:01 p.m.

The team which wins Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead is no sure bet in the Stanley Cup Final.

Teams winning the fifth game with the series tied at 2 have gone on to win the championship 16 out of 23 times since 1939, when the final series was expanded to a best-of-seven format.

And yet, of the past seven times the final has been tied at 2, the Game 5 loser has gone on to win the title four times. That includes the Lightning in 2004, when they won Games 6 and 7 to beat the Calgary Flames.

—

8 p.m.

Seems as if NBC boss Mark Lazarus has a number of NHL players and fans in a lather over his observations regarding playoff grooming.

”I’ve been nothing but the butt of the joke on Twitter for the last 24 hours,” Lazarus said on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday.

Lazarus got nicked following a remark he made to The Chicago Tribune suggesting NHL players could be more marketable if they were clean-shaven during the playoffs.

Don’t expect the razors to come out until after the Stanley Cup is hoisted, though.

”I think it’s a great part of the playoffs,” Lightning forward Cedric Paquette said this week. ”Maybe for TV is would be a bit better, but for us hockey players, we don’t care.”

The 1980s New York Islanders teams are credited for beginning the beard-growing playoff tradition. However, Willie Plett and several Philadelphia Flyers players wore beards throughout the season in the mid-1970s.

—

7:55 p.m.

Goalie Ben Bishop has led the Tampa Bay Lightning onto the ice for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, indicting he will start.

Bishop missed Game 4 and skipped Friday’s practice with an undisclosed injury, but spent 15 minutes on ice during Tampa Bay’s morning skate for Game 5.

The Lightning apparently decided the 53-game winner is healthy enough to play against the Chicago Blackhawks. The series is even at two games apiece.

Bishop said he believes ”there’s progress being made” on the injury. Rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy was on the ice as Bishop’s backup after starting Game 4.

—

5:30 p.m.

Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final isn’t the only Chicago-Tampa Bay matchup taking place in Florida on Saturday. Earlier in the day, the Chicago White Sox met the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

According to research by the Rays’ public relations staff, it’s the first time since May 9, 1971, that a city or market has hosted both a Stanley Cup Final game and a major league game between teams from the same cities on the same day.

That day in Montreal, major league baseball’s Expos defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-3 at Jarry Parc Stadium, and the Canadiens defeated the Blackhawks 4-2 in Game 3 at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens went on to win the series in seven games.

—

5:10 p.m.

Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa is playing in his 193rd playoff game Saturday night, which ties the 36-year-old for 22nd place with Craig MacTavish.

”He’s a big part of those reasons that this team is in the finals and has a chance to win here,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. ”I’m fortunate to coach a guy like him because he really sends the right message to play the right way.”

Hossa is second among active players in both playoff points and assists.

”He’s just the ultimate hockey player, the ultimate teammate, the ultimate human being,” Blackhawks star Patrick Kane said. ”He’s a special guy. You look at him, he seems ageless. I love having him around the locker room and I love just being his friend and watching him on the ice too. He’s definitely a privilege to play with.”

The post Stars looking to break out in Game 5 appeared first on IdealCapper.

The biggest stars for the Blackhawks and Lightning are looking to break out with the deadlocked series shifting to Chicago for Game 3 on Monday night.

Toews’ third-period assist in Chicago’s 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday night was the 100th career playoff point for the captain – and his first of the final.

Kane, who played alongside Toews for much of the first two games, failed to register a shot on goal in Game 2. Stamkos, the captain of the Lightning, is scoreless in his last four games.

The winner of the series very well could be the team that gets one of those scorers going.

”I mean, as an offensive guy, you want to be helping produce, especially at this time of year,” Kane said. ”But, you know, we said all along with our team, we don’t really care where the goals come from, as long as they’re coming from our team.”

While Toews, Kane and Stamkos have been shut down so far, the big question hanging over the Stanley Cup on Sunday was which goalie would be in net for Tampa Bay in Game 3. Even coach Jon Cooper said he wasn’t sure.

Ben Bishop left midway through the third period of Game 2. He returned for a brief stretch and then left for good. Andrei Vasilevskiy made five saves to help close out the series-tying win.

There has been no word from the Lightning on why Bishop departed. Cooper said he could be available for Game 3.

”You’ll have a better indication, I guess, tomorrow at the skate,” Cooper said. ”Although our morning skates are all optional anyway. Bish, notoriously he goes on sometimes during them and sometimes he doesn’t. I’m sure you’ll get a clue then tomorrow.”

The 6-foot-7 Bishop had a franchise-record 40 wins this season. He is 12-9 with a 2.20 goals-against average in the playoffs.

Vasilevskiy, who turns 21 in July, has made 19 appearances this year, counting the playoffs, but Cooper and the Lightning insist they are comfortable with him in goal.

”If Bish can’t go tomorrow, is that a blow to us? Sure it is,” Cooper said. ”But do we think the series is lost because Vasilevskiy is going in? Not a chance.”

Tampa Bay’s revolving door in goal and the free-wheeling pace of Game 2 made Kane’s blank scoresheet all the more surprising. It was only the second time that he failed to record a shot on goal in 112 career playoff games, according to STATS.

”It’s not a stat you like to see, for sure,” said Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013 for playoff MVP. ”At the same time going into the next game, I’m not going to go in saying, `I need to get a shot here or there.’ I just go out and try to make the right play and worry about the results from there.”

—

Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap

The post Big stars held in check so far in Stanley Cup appeared first on IdealCapper.

They bent, but the Anaheim Ducks didn’t break.

And now Chicago will need all of that postseason toughness to avoid elimination.

Matt Beleskey scored 45 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks bounced back from Toews’ heroics to beat the Blackhawks 5-4 on Monday night, taking a 3-2 series lead.

”I think going into overtime, we were feeling that the game was in our hands and we’re going to get that next break,” Toews said. ”So it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t take advantage of it.”

Until Beleskey lined up Ryan Kesler’s fat rebound off Corey Crawford’s pad and fired it into an open net, the ice appeared to be tilted in the Blackhawks’ favor in the sixth overtime period already in this series.

Chicago trailed for about 52 minutes before silencing Honda Center with Toews’ stunning goals, one with 1:50 left and the tying score with 37.2 seconds to play.

”I think we always show that we can always dig ourselves out of those holes,” Toews said. ”We did it tonight, and still find a way to push it to overtime.”

Crawford made 23 saves before giving up the decisive rebound for the Blackhawks, who had won four overtime games already in this postseason, including two in this series. But Chicago dropped to 0-4 after those OT games, and the Hawks lost for the first time in 10 postseason games while scoring at least three goals.

Teuvo Teravainen and Brent Seabrook scored in the second period for Chicago, which lost one bit of its postseason aura: The Blackhawks had won Game 5 in a tied series seven consecutive times.

Now they must win two straight to reach their third Stanley Cup finals in six seasons.

Game 6 is Wednesday in Chicago.

”That’s probably as good of a lesson as you’re going to get on keeping your emotions (on an) even keel,” Chicago forward Patrick Sharp said. ”It was a good, hard-fought game. Tough to lose it quickly in overtime like that, but they’re a good team. We expect them to play hard and win games. We just have to make sure we win at home.”

Patrick Maroon scored with 5:15 left in regulation, while Sami Vatanen had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who need one more victory to earn their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 2007.

”It’s Ducks hockey,” said Ryan Kesler, who had a goal and an assist. ”We don’t like to do anything easy.”

Cam Fowler and Kesler scored 32 seconds apart in a three-goal first period for the Ducks, who have won the Western Conference title just twice in franchise history. Captain Ryan Getzlaf had two assists and set the franchise’s single-season playoff scoring record with his 19th point.

Toews got both of his goals with Crawford pulled, tying it with an impossibly sharp-angled shot that somehow got through Frederik Andersen, who made 24 saves. He had been mostly superb in the postseason until allowing two awful goals in Game 5, including that tying howler.

”It was a great comeback,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. ”A great second (period), a great third, amazing finish. Tough in the overtime. We didn’t start on time for the first time in the series. (Anaheim) talked about being ready. Might have been the differential. But great comeback.”

These teams combined for a six-goal third period in Game 4, and they put together another memorable finish in a high-level playoff series already featuring two multi-overtime games, both won by Chicago. After Anaheim nearly stole Game 4 with three goals in 37 seconds, the Blackhawks nearly swiped this one away from the Ducks.

Chicago opened Game 5 with more than 16 minutes without a shot on goal while falling behind 3-0, but the Blackhawks responded by scoring early and late in a dominant second period to set the stage for another remarkable finish.

NOTES: Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau shuffled his forwards to start Game 5, scratching Emerson Etem and activating Tomas Fleischmann. Boudreau changed three line combinations to start, putting Fleischmann on the second line with Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg. He changed the combinations again in the third period. … The Blackhawks allowed three goals in a period for the seventh time in this postseason. … Actor Emilio Estevez tweeted his support to the Ducks before and during the game. Estevez played coach Gordon Bombay in the ”Mighty Ducks” film series that originally gave the nickname to this expansion NHL franchise formerly owned by Disney.

The post Toews gets 2 to force OT, but Hawks drop Game 5 to Ducks 5-4 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Bergeron, who won last year, was the NHL’s top face-off man this season at 62.1 percent. He ranked sixth overall and led the Bruins in plus-minus with a plus-24 rating and played an average of 2:12 per game with his team short-handed.

“It’s not something I really worry about, to be honest,” Bergeron said Wednesday after the team’s practice at TD Garden as it prepares for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Rangers “It’s a nice honor just to be nominated with these two guys, they’re great players. To be a part of it is great, but at the same time there are a lot more things to worry about. We have a game tomorrow and that’s all I need to focus on right now.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien believes his assistant captain should win his second consecutive Selke Trophy.

“I can tell you right now, I would be extremely disappointed and would’ve been vocal about it had he not been nominated,” Julien said. “This guy here is so good at both ends of the ice, and he keeps proving it year after year. There’s not too many guys in this league that can do what Patrice does.”

Toews, a Selke finalist for the second time, finished third in the NHL in plus-minus with a career-high plus-28 rating and placed second in the NHL in face-off winning percentage with 59.9 percent.

“It’s a good feeling for sure. It’s definitely an honor and something special. You look at the other two players nominated and its an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as those two guys so pretty cool feeling,” he said.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Toews “had an oustanding year.”

“You can mention him in Hart [Trophy] you can mention him in Selke as well. … Very deserving. We think he did a great job in that area.”

Datsyuk, a three-time winner, tied with Toews for the league lead in takeaways with 56, topped the Red Wings in plus-minus at plus-21 and won 55 percent of faceoffs.

“You see some of the stuff he does and you just can’t believe it,” Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall told The Detroit News.

The post Selke Trophy finalists named appeared first on IdealCapper.

Chicago is moving on in the postseason for the first time since the championship run in 2010, and will face either San Jose or Detroit if the Red Wings get past Anaheim.

“We knew we hadn’t done it in two years,” Hossa said. “Minnesota, they still have a great team and are missing some players. We found a way. Now we get ready for the next round.”

The way the Blackhawks have dominated, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cup finals would be a disappointment for them.

They got off to a record start and captured the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing with more points than any other team.

Now, they’re eyeing the biggest prize of all. And after bowing out in the first round the past two years, they sure are looking good.

Hossa scored off a feed from Jonathan Toews late in the first period. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound early in the second, and Hossa chased the Wild’s Josh Harding when he knocked in a rebound minutes later.

Then, after Torrey Mitchell scored for Minnesota, Chicago’s Andrew Shaw scored against Darcy Kuemper. Patrick Sharp added his fifth goal of the series early in the third period, and that was more than enough for Crawford.

Coming off his second career playoff shutout, he saved 21 shots, and the Blackhawks became the third team to advance in this postseason, along with San Jose and Ottawa. They also bucked a recent trend of early exits for Presidents’ Trophy winners.

The team with the most regular-season points had been eliminated in the first round in three of the previous four years. The Wild were hoping to replicate what the Los Angeles Kings did last year and win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed, but the Blackhawks simply had too much skill, speed and depth.

The Wild were also short-handed after losing one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley to season-ending left shoulder surgery late in the season. They also had to get by without goalie Niklas Backstrom after he suffered a leg injury in warm-ups before Game 1.

That forced the Wild to go with Harding, who played in just five games during the regular season after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer. And he also got banged up in this series. He left Game 4 after a collision with Toews in which his legs got straddled around the left goal post, and he wasn’t sharp in this one, allowing three goals on 18 shots even though he was deemed well enough to start.

Coach Mike Yeo turned to Kuemper after Hossa’s second goal. He also insisted the injury in Game 4 wasn’t a factor in Harding’s performance in this one.

“It wasn’t,” Yeo said. “I don’t want to pin this loss on Josh, either. Credit them and their team.”

There was also a question about Yeo’s job security after this loss. The Wild were widely considered Stanley Cup contenders after they gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But they never quite lived up to expectations.

“I can’t answer that,” Yeo said. “All I can say is if you want to look at it objectively, statistically, if you really want to look at it properly, then there’ve been a lot of improvements in our organization and our team. I feel that we’re going in the right direction.”

For a moment, the Wild looked like they might get back into this one.

Moments after Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon hit the right post, Mitchell ripped a one-timer past Crawford midway through the second period. But Shaw answered 35 seconds later with his first career playoff goal when he swept the puck in from a bad angle just to the right of the net, making it 4-1.

Crawford, meanwhile, continued to erase doubts about his ability to perform in the postseason. That was a big question coming into this series after he let in several soft goals in last year’s first-round loss to Phoenix. He’s been nothing but solid in this series.

“He’s making saves that he needs to make and he’s making saves that he shouldn’t be making,” Sharp said. “When he does that, it breeds confidence throughout the lineup and it filters through everybody.”

He even had the fans chanting his name at several points. For example, when Crawford stopped a routine shot by Jason Pominville from the wing and scrambled back toward the middle of the net for a neat pad save against Mikko Koivu on the rebound. That foiled another power play by the Wild after they went 0-for-15 in the first four games.

The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Hossa took a feed from Toews in the left circle and fired the puck between Harding’s glove and the post. The assist gave Toews his first point of the playoffs.

Kruger made it 2-0 when his wraparound deflected off Harding’s pad and into the net for his first career playoff goal.

Game notes

Blackhawks C Dave Bolland and G Ray Emery remain sidelined by lower body injuries, although coach Joel Quenneville said they’re “real close.” Bolland said it’s 50-50 he would have been able to play if “it was do-or-die” for the Blackhawks, but he expects to be ready in the next round. … Quenneville moved ahead of Mike Keenan and took sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks’ playoff wins list with 34. Billy Reay is the club record-holder with 57 from 1963-77.

The post Blackhawks blow out Wild, advance in playoffs for first time since 2010 appeared first on IdealCapper.

After all, the NHL leaders started the lockout-shortened season with points in their first 24 games — a league record.

But the Blackhawks made a strong statement Sunday in becoming the first team this season to clinch postseason berth, as they used a third-period rally to beat the Nashville Predators 5-3.

Rookie Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews scored 55 seconds apart midway through the third. Chicago (29-5-4) had fallen behind 3-2 early in the period on a goal by Nashville’s David Legwand, but Saad and Toews connected against Pekka Rinne to put the Blackhawks back ahead.

The Blackhawks defeated the Predators for the second time in two days and improved to 13-0-1 against Central Division teams.

“We obviously wanted to stay in the spot we’re in in the standings,” Toews said, “but first and foremost, our No. 1 goal coming in every season is we want to make the playoffs.

“To beat a team like Nashville twice in a row, first on the road and then at home, is a great thing. We did a lot of good things in that game, but most of all, we didn’t stop working. We found a way to win in the third.”

Patrick Kane, who set up Toews’ eventual game-winner, added an empty-net goal with 32 seconds left to complete the scoring. Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell also scored for Chicago.

Kane’s hustling assist on Toews goal at 10:32 of the third might have been the pivotal mark on the score sheet.

Kane outraced two Predators to a loose puck on the back boards, then centered to Toews, who connected on a low shot from the right circle.

“That should be the headline, because you don’t see that too often. I’m just kidding,” Toews said. “It was a great play by him.

“I came flying off the bench and he saw me in the slot. My first thought was to try and find Saad backdoor because I could see him kind of going to the net there, but I went against that instinct and shot the puck.”

Shea Weber and Nick Spaling each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (15-17-8), who are 13th in the Western Conference with 38 points, five behind eighth-place Detroit at the postseason cutoff.

“It was competitive,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “(The Predators) played both these games as they had to win. Yesterday we were maybe a little bit more efficient than we were today, but we were sticking with it.”

Nashville played with desperation after a sluggish first period, but the Predators were done in by mistakes — and a talented Chicago team.

“We got beat to the puck on the one (Toews) goal,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. “It was just individual stuff.

“That’s on our D. Our D has got to have that puck.”

Chicago’s Ray Emery stopped 19 shots, following a 20-save, 1-0 win at Nashville on Saturday. The Blackhawks improved to 4-0 against the Predators this season.

Rinne, who leads the NHL in games and minutes played, made 35 saves as he appeared in his 29th straight contest.

The Predators have made the playoffs the past three seasons and in seven of eight, but that run is in jeopardy

“We’ve just got to play hard and see what happens,” Trotz said. “The chances are remote, but you’ve got to play hard. You’re not going to do anybody any favors if you don’t.”

Both teams skated without key forwards.

Nashville left wing Gabriel Bourque, who is tied with Legwand for the team lead with 11 goals, missed his fourth game because of an upper body injury. Mike Fisher, third on the Predators with 19 points, sat out after aggravating a hand injury that caused him to miss three games last week.

Patrick Sharp, who led the Blackhawks with 33 goals last season, missed his 14th game with a shoulder injury. Dave Bolland sat out his second because of a lower body injury, believed to have been caused when a shot by Weber struck him last Monday.

The Blackhawks killed the only penalty against them on Sunday and have snuffed 17 straight chances. Chicago hasn’t allowed a power-play goal in 10 games, dating to March 18.

The Blackhawks entered the game as the third-least penalized team in the NHL, training the New York Islanders and Rangers.

Shaw opened the scoring 6:34 in on a tip-in.

Michael Frolik jumped on a rebound that Rinne had deflected to the left boards, then turned and fired on goal in one motion. Shaw deflected the puck over Rinne’s shoulder.

The Blackhawks dominated the first period, outshooting the Predators 17-7. But a turnover by defenseman Johnny Oduya in the slot set off a scramble that led to Spaling’s goal that made it 1-1 with 2:44 left.

Sergei Kostitsyn grabbed the loose puck and shot from a sharp angle to the right of the net. Emery stopped that attempt, but Spaling fired in the rebound before Emery could recover.

Bickell, who scored Chicago’s only goal on Saturday, put the Blackhawks back in front 2-1 at 2:09 of the second.

Weber tied it at 2 just over three minutes later, when he fired from the top of the right circle directly from a faceoff win by Spaling.

Legwand scored on a rebound to put Nashville ahead 3-2 at 6:54 of the third to cap a scrum around the Chicago net.

Saad tied it at 3 at 9:37 from 10 feet. After fanning on a first shot attempt, defenseman Duncan Keith swept in and fired a shot that Rinne blocked. Saad converted the rebound.

Toews put Chicago ahead 4-3 at 10:32. Kane’s goal with 32 seconds left completed the scoring.

Game notes

Before the game, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said that Sharp could return this week. When asked about Bolland’s condition, he said, “We don’t think it’s serious.” … Nashville C Paul Gaustad missed a second game with an upper body injury. … Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who played for the Blackhawks and worked in their front office, attended the game.

The post Blackhawks win, become first team to clinch playoff spot appeared first on IdealCapper.

Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa each scored twice in leading the Blackhawks to an 8-1 rout of the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

Nick Leddy and Patrick Kane each had a goal and two assists as eight Blackhawks scored two or more points and Chicago boosted its road record to 12-1-2 with a dominant win on the second stop of a four-game road trip.

“A great effort all-around by the team,” said Kane, whose 15th goal of the season was a highlight-reel beauty in the third period. “It was a game that we probably needed, since we’ve been in so many close games, to get some guys some confidence scoring some goals. It was good to see a lot of guys step up.”

Corey Crawford made 18 saves for his 13th victory, and Johnny Oduya and Duncan Keith had the Blackhawks’ other goals.

“We had all areas of our game with us, puck possession, playing a sound-game system-wise. Everybody contributed,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said.

The Blackhawks are 2-2-0 since their record 21-0-3 streak to start the season.

Defenseman Trevor Daley scored for the Stars, who have been outscored 16-3 in losing four straight (0-3-1). Three games into a stretch in which the Stars play nine of 11 at home, they have lost all three and are 2-5-1 in their last nine in Dallas.

“If this wasn’t an alarm clock, I don’t know what is,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said.

The return of offensive catalyst Jamie Benn, who missed two games with a wrist injury, wasn’t enough to help the Stars, although he assisted on Dallas’ only goal, feeding Daley for a one-timer on a power play at 6:30 of the third period to spoil Crawford’s shutout bid.

Kari Lehtonen took the loss in goal for Dallas, surrendering four goals on 17 shots before he was pulled midway through the second period. Richard Bachman made 13 saves in relief.

“We dumped on our first goalie and we dumped on our second goalie,” Benn said. “We left them to hang out to dry and it’s unacceptable. We need to do something within this room to change that. It’s an unacceptable effort tonight. These guys gave us a wakeup call tonight.”

Toews struck twice within 1:35 to propel Chicago to a 2-0 lead in the first period and the Blackhawks never looked back.

At 9:05, Toews cruised through the top of the crease and his nifty deflection of Leddy’s slap shot from the left point beat Lehtonen.

His second goal came seconds after he won an offensive zone face-off, and set up in front of the net, where Duncan Keith’s point shot ricocheted off Daley right to him for an easy tap-in into the open side of the net at 10:40.

“I think maybe the fact that we were able to distance ourselves early and not let them back into the game maybe took the wind out of their sails,” said Toews, who has 13 goals. “And as the game went along, the puck just seemed to keep bouncing our way. We worked for our success. I think whether you score eight goals or not, we did what we had to do to win and played a full 60 minutes.”

The Blackhawks extended their lead to 3-0 on Leddy’s third goal of the season at 17:54. Lehtonen stopped Viktor Stalberg’s point-blank shot, but Leddy managed to jam home the rebound.

Chicago continued to control the action in the second, nearly going up by four at 7:30 when a turnover by Dallas rookie defender Brenden Dillon gave Jimmy Hayes an uncontested wrist shot from the slot, but he fired it over the crossbar.

Oduya made it 4-0 at 8:01 when his slap shot from the blue line sailed past a screened Lehtonen, pinged off the left post and dropped in for his second goal in as many games.

That goal prompted Gulutzan to pull Lehtonen in favor of Bachman.

The Blackhawks scored on their first shot against Bachman, taking a 5-0 lead at 12:18 while the clubs were skating four aside, on Hossa’s one-timer from in front off a nifty backhand pass from Kane.

“We were talking about it before the shift,” Hossa said of the play, “and I knew as soon as he went on the right side, he’d throw it in the middle and I tried to just try to find a way to best position myself to score the goal.”

Skating with a 5-on-3 advantage, Chicago struck again with 50.8 seconds left in the period when Hossa launched a blistering snap shot from the right circle that beat Bachman over his glove.

Keith’s second goal of the year, off a wrist shot that glanced off Benn’s stick in front, beat Bachman at 2:06 of the final period.

Two minutes after Daley snapped the shutout in the third period, another Dallas goal was wiped out. Eric Nystrom’s wrist shot found its way over Crawford’s shoulder, but the officials ruled that Vernon Fiddler interfered with Crawford on the play.

“We certainly got humbled,” Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. “We knew they were a good team coming in. We’d like to think we were prepared for it and expected it, but obviously we weren’t. This was deflating for us. We’ve got some work to do.”

Kane made it 8-1 on the ensuing power play with a spin move in the right circle for a backhander that beat Bachman past the glove at 9:59.

Game notes

Daley’s goal snapped an 0-for-10 power play drought for the Stars over the past three games. … After a 2-for-6 showing with the man-advantage, Chicago is 5 for 21 over its last nine contests on the power play. … The Stars honored their general manager, former C Joe Nieuwendyk, as part of their all-time team. Nieuwendyk played in Dallas from 1995-2002, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1999 while helping the Stars earn the franchise’s only Stanley Cup.

The post Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa lead Blackhawks’ rout appeared first on IdealCapper.

Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews each had a goal and an assist to help the Blackhawks beat the Kings 3-2, extending their season-opening points streak to 15 games.

Patrick Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks (12-0-3), who matched the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers for the second-longest season-opening points streak in NHL history. Chicago is one away from the tying the league record set by Anaheim in 2006-07 and will try to match the mark on Tuesday when it hosts Vancouver.

Mike Richards scored two power-play goals in the third period to pull the Kings within one after Chicago outplayed the Stanley Cup champions in the opening 40 minutes and built a 3-0 lead.

But the Blackhawks and goalie Ray Emery hung on.

“The guys wanted to get a good start, a good jump on L.A.,” Seabrook said. “Ray made the big saves when he needed to.”

The Blackhawks’ start to the season is beginning to reach historical proportions in more way than one.

Anaheim won the Stanley Cup in 2007 after its record-setting points start. The 1984-85 Oilers and Montreal, which opened with 14 straight in 1943-44, also won the Cup in those seasons.

Toews, Chicago’s captain, says the Blackhawks aren’t getting ahead of themselves, however.

“We’re 15 games into the season,” Toews said. “What’s important to us is getting home ice advantage, making the playoffs. Those are our goals. Once you get there, the real season starts.

“When you get to that point, no one really cares or remembers those streaks at the start of the season.”

Emery, Chicago’s backup, made 25 saves. He lost a bid for his first shutout in more than three years when Richards connected 56 seconds into the third period. Emery made back-to-back starts for the first time this season with Corey Crawford missing his second game because of an undisclosed upper-body injury.

And things got a little frantic for Chicago at the end after Richards notched his second goal — just his fourth this season — with 7:10 left. The Blackhawks spent the final 1:04 short-handed after Johnny Oduya was sent off for slashing, and Jonathan Quick was pulled for an extra attacker during that span.

“I thought we had a great first 40 minutes and they got some momentum off their power-play goal early in the third,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “They had a great third period. We had 40, they had a great 20, and the clock ran out, which was nice.”

Not so for Los Angeles (5-6-2), which has struggled on offense and with injuries. The only bright spot for the Kings was their power play, which came in ranked 27th in the NHL before connecting twice in a game for only the second time this season.

“We probably didn’t play well enough to win this game,” Richards said. “The slow start kind of cost us. We gave them a lot in the first period with penalties and some turnovers and they scored some goals, which put us behind the eight-ball pretty quick.”

Sharp, who led Chicago with 33 goals last season, ended a 10-game drought without a score.

The Blackhawks outshot Los Angeles 37-27 and defeated the Kings for the second time this season to end Los Angeles’ two-game winning streak. Chicago won 5-2 in the teams’ season opener at Staples Center.

Quick started in goal and finished with 34 saves for the Kings after backup Jonathan Bernier was in net in Los Angeles’ previous two games.

Chicago was a step faster than the Kings in the first period and held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Seabrook opened the scoring 6:29 in to cap a Chicago flurry in the Kings’ zone, and after Quick had made several in-close saves.

Seabrook pinched down to the low edge of the left circle and took a pinpoint feed from Duncan Keith, who threaded a cross-ice pass from the top of the right circle. Seabrook then slid a shot into an open net before Quick could dive across.

Toews’ power-play goal 4 minutes later made it 2-0. Stationed in the slot, Toews first tipped Keith’s feed off the right post, but buried the loose puck before Quick could cover it.

Sharp exploited a Kings coverage breakdown and increased Chicago’s lead to 3-0 just 56 seconds into the second period. Quick dropped to the ice to block Toews’ stuff-in attempt at the side of the net, but the puck popped into the slot. Sharp was wide open and fired high into the net before Quick could recover.

The Blackhawks were in control for most of the second period and outshot Los Angeles 21-10. But Emery had to make several tough saves late in the period — including in-close stops on Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter — to keep the Kings off the scoreboard.

Richards cut it to 3-1 early in the third. With Brown providing a screen at the edge of the crease, Richards’ high shot from the top of the slot sailed past Emery. Richards’ second power-play goal trimmed it to 3-2 with 7:10 left. This time, he beat Emery from the top of the left circle with Brown screening.

Game notes

Before the game, Quenneville said Crawford was “progressing” and is day-to-day. When asked if Crawford’s condition might be long-term, Quenneville replied, “I don’t foresee that yet.” Crawford — who has a 7-0-3 record, 1.65 goals-against average and .935 save percentage — has not skated since sustaining his injury, apparently in a 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim last Tuesday.

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