The three-game sweep of the NHL from Sunday covers the entire schedule starting in Chicago where Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 26 games in a 4-0 win by the Blackhawks over the Vancouver Canucks.
Corey Crawford picked up his second straight shutout and fourth of the season.
Corey Crawford notched second straight shutout in win over Vancouver – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“It’s a matter of preparing yourself and being focused each game,” Crawford said. “Just because you play well in the last one doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, and our team is starting to come around. Our [penalty kill] is really strong, and it seems like it’s getting better and better. We just have to keep it going.”
Kane ended the suspense early with an assist on the Hawks’ first by Duncan Keith in the first.
“I passed it and it went in 10 or 15 seconds later,” he said. “I actually didn’t know I got an assist until I heard them announce it. I was hoping they didn’t get it wrong and then maybe they’ve got to call it back.”
Dennis Rasmussen, Andrew Shaw and Brandon Mashinter also scored for the Blackhawks.
“I thought we played well,” Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. “I thought the second period was good for us. I thought they got going a little bit at the start of the third. I didn’t think we were quite as good. Even if that one goes in on the power play that got disallowed, it’s a 2-1 game with six minutes left and anything can happen.”
Ryan Miller made 26 saves in the loss.
“Maybe we didn’t play our best game, but most of the time we kept them to the outside and our [penalty kill] was good for the most part,” said Henrik Sedin, who was called for the hand pass on the disallowed goal. “If you’re in the game against a tough team like this on the road, late in the third, you have to be happy with that. We had our chance, but we just couldn’t score.”
In St Louis, Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov had 42 saves in a 3-1 win by the Avs over the Blues.
It was the second straight win for the Avs who beat the Nashville Predators Saturday.
“It’s good for the statistics,” Varlamov said. “Lots of shots. I saw most of them, which is really important for me. They did a great job in front of me boxing out the players. That was the key for sure.”
Jack Skille, John Mitchell and Carl Soderberg scored for the Avs.
“He (Varlamov) was phenomenal,” Mitchell said. “He was moving well, he was getting big, he was blocking everything he needed to, and he was catching everything he needed to. He certainly won us that game tonight.”
The Avs took control of the game in the first period with two goals.
“To me, it was the first period that was the key,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said. “I mean, both teams were on a back-to-back and we scored two goals in the first and we had plenty of other chances and I thought we had a strong first.”
Jake Allen took the loss on 15 saves.
“We had a lot of momentum there in the first period,” Mitchell said. “To be able to get the two goals and early lead, that certainly helps, but they certainly brought it the second half of that game. We were kind of on our heels and [Varlamov] came up real big for us.”
Vladimir Tarasenko scored a power play goal at 12:55 of the third to cut the Avs’ lead in half.
“I think it’s one of those games when you’re down 2-0 and you just start pouring it on and they sat back a little bit and we took it to them,” Blues center Paul Stastny said. “That’s what happens when you’re down two goals and the other team’s up two goals. For us, it’s more about the way we started that game. Both teams are coming off back-to-backs. We almost had to try and find a way to get that first one and then play our game the way we wanted to, but we got behind early and that first period wasn’t our best until we were down 2-0, which can’t happen when we’re at home.”
In Brooklyn, the New York Islanders’ Thomas Greiss made 27 saves in a 4-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils.
Marek Zidlicky scored two goals and John Tavares and Matt Martin added goals in the win.
“We wanted to establish our game early,” Tavares said. “For whatever reason, we had our legs right off the get-go, and we were able to sustain it. We were able not only to come out hard but to keep it going for a full 60 [minutes].”
Cory Schneider yielded three goals on just 18 shots and was pulled in favor of Keith Kinkaid.
“It was important for us to get off to a quick start; we didn’t, and they took advantage,” Devils captain Andy Greene said. “It’s not acceptable. If we want to catch these teams that are ahead of us, we have to play well and get points.
“They played real well tonight, and we were not very good.”
The Devils tried to deflect blame from Schneider.
“It’s not on his shoulders,” Greene said. “We were not very good in front of him. Coach was probably trying to change things up and try to spark us a little bit.
“We weren’t there for them tonight, and they’re always there for us. We have to be better.”
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