Until Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars had not lost a game in eight matches.
That was before they hooked up with the Chicago Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford who made 32 saves in a 3-0 win for the Hawks.
“I think we played really good defensively,” Crawford said. “[There] were a few times where we got stuck in our zone, and you know, we didn’t panic. Just kept them to the outside. Some big blocked saves by [Brent Seabrook] there — a couple kick saves.
“It was a good win against a really good team. We’ve just got to build off that, I think.”
Brandon Saad provided all the offense the Blackhawks would need when he scored in the first period.
“It was tough,” Dallas forward Radek Faksa said of playing their third game in four nights. “But we had to play smart with changes, and we felt good. We just didn’t score goals. It’s tough. Tough to win when you don’t score goals.”
Chicago improved to 10-9-5.
“[Crawford] made some saves, and we made some plays and got the lead,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “That was nice too — had a chance to play from ahead. Power play came through with a big goal for us. [The Stars are] a really good team, obviously. To get three of four points in this set is positive for us, and now we’ve got to take a couple days to get ready for another two big ones.”
Patrick Kane added a goal int he third period to extend his point streak to 13 games.
“I think [goalie Robin Lehner] been playing really well, and it’s just kind of worked in our favor right now that he’s playing so good,” Crawford said. “And I get in there and play pretty well. I don’t know. It’s hard for me to answer. It’s not my choice. I just try and be ready when I get the call.”
Connor Murphy sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 17:20 of the third period.
[WATCH: All Stars vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Anton Khudobin made 35 saves in the loss.
“I thought our effort was really good for three (games) in four nights,” Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said. “We had our chances, didn’t capitalize on our chances. [Khudobin] gave us a chance, we were a shot away in the third, but we couldn’t come through.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.