Blackhawks 4, Ducks 1 – Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: January 31, 2015

(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports)

The Honda Center was the site for last night’s tilt between the Blackhawks and Ducks. The Hawks would control the action early on before Duncan Keith was called for a penalty. The Hawks were able to kill it off and regain the momentum. They would grab the lead just under six minutes in when Jonathan Toews found the back of the net. On the play following the ensuing faceoff, Corey Crawford made two brilliant saves to keep the Hawks in front. The Hawks would generate the majority of the chances for the rest of the period, though the Ducks would have a few as well. However, the lamp would remain unlit for the rest of the first and the Hawks would go into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

The Hawks would get off to a good start in the second period; however, after Anaheim was able to kill off their first penalty of the night, they would begin to control the action. This was short-lived for the Ducks, though, as Tim Jackman would be sent to the box for goaltender interference a couple minutes later. The Hawks would have a couple quality chances on this power play, but nothing would get by Frederik Andersen.

One would get by Andersen 9:16 into the period, though, when the teams were at even strength, the shot coming off the stick of Duncan Keith. Andersen was interfered with by Toews on the goal, but the goal would stand as the interference was the result of a push by Clayton Stoner. A little over six minutes later, Patrick Kane would expand the lead to 3-0, blasting a wrister past Andersen after a perfect dish from Patrick Sharp. Cam Fowler would be sent off for hooking a little over eighteen minutes in, giving the Hawks another 5-on-4 advantage, but the Hawks could not score before time ran out in the period.

The Hawks began the third with seven seconds of power play time remaining from the Fowler penalty, which the Ducks were able to kill off. And just they had for most of the game, the Hawks would dictate the action early on in the third. Andrew Shaw would be sent off for hooking just under seven minutes into the period, giving the Ducks their first power play since the first period. The last 25 seconds of the Shaw penalty would turn into a 5-on-3 advantage for the Ducks as Niklas Hjalmarsson would join Shaw in the sin bin. The Hawks would be able to kill off the 25 seconds of 5-on-3, but not the rest of the Hjalmarrson penalty as the Ducks would cut the Hawks’ lead to 2 on a power play goal by Rickard Rakell. The Hawks would get the goal back a few minutes later as Kaner picked up his second goal of the night and Sharpie picked up his fourth assist. This would be the final goal of the game, and the Hawks would leave Anaheim with a 4-1 victory.

This was just an all-around great performance by the Hawks, beating the NHL points leader on the road and dominating the whole game. Everybody seemed to be in position all night and as a result, the Ducks did not see many great scoring chances. On just about every chance they did have, Crawford made the save.

My picks for 3 stars:

★★★ Corey Crawford, G, CHI (21 SV, 1 GA)

★★ Patrick Kane, RW, CHI (2 G, 1 A)

★ Patrick Sharp, LW, CHI (4 A)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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