In Montreal, Zack Smith struck for two goals in the first period for the Chicago Blackhawks en route to a 4-1 decision over the Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Corey Crawford made 32 saves to get the win.
“We’ve been playing really well defensively the last bunch of game, and tonight was no different,” Crawford said. “We kept them to the outside most of the game and when me and Robin have to make saves on the angle and our guys are clearing rebounds, we’re going to have a good chance to win a lot of hockey games.”
Phillip Danault scored the lone Habs goal.
“We weren’t in the game at all, it’s as simple as that,” Montreal coach Claude Julien said. “They’re a team with good sticks; that was made clear before the game, but we weren’t there at all. We lost puck battles and made poor decisions. We didn’t deserve to win this game at all.”
The Canadiens are 2-8-1 in their last 11 games.
Alex DeBrincat and Drake Caggiula added single markers in the win.
“A great start, I thought, a big shorthanded goal, and then to get the 2-0 lead was big,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “But I thought we deserved it. We played hard, we were on our toes and putting pressure on them, [we] had a lot of good offensive zone shifts. A good response after they scored to make it 2-1. Sometimes they get a little push after that, but I thought we did a decent job of closing out the game. A good step for us to win it relatively under control. Obviously, [Crawford] made some big saves for us, but a pretty solid effort.”
[WATCH:Â All Blackhawks vs. Canadiens highlights]
Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves in the loss.
“We have to be sharp on the power play,” Montreal’s Ilya Kovalchuk said. “Our power play is a disaster right now. We’ve got to see, then talk and be simple. You know, we try to do those cute passes between the stick, skates, [but] it doesn’t work.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.