Toews' mates make all the noise in Hawks' win
It was a quiet return to Winnipeg for Jonathan Toews on Saturday, but his Blackhawks teammates let their play do all the talking for him in a dominating performance against the Jets.
Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brandon Bollig, Patrick Sharp, Nick Leddy and Ben Smith scored goals, and Corey Crawford made 26 saves in a 5-1 dismantling of the Jets at MTS Centre.
The Hawks (9-2-3) scored 5 unanswered goals after Tobias Enstrom gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“They scored early, but we were able to play our game most of the night,” Crawford told reporters.
Toews didn't score, but linemate Sharp did with an assist from Marian Hossa. Toews had his points streak snapped at five games.
“As a line, maybe we didn't get too much going,” Toews told a swarm of reporters. “We didn't get that puck control we wanted to throughout three periods, but a nice play by Hossa on Sharpie's goal there.”
Hossa had stolen the puck and sprung Sharp on a breakaway. He deked in front of goalie Ondrej Pavelec and fired a low shot on the glove side at 2:41 that made it 3-1.
It was 1-1 when Crawford made a huge stop on an Andrew Ladd stuff attempt. A few seconds later, it was 2-1 for the Hawks when Bollig scored from the left side.
Marcus Kruger had a pair of assists and Leddy and Bollig also picked up an assist each for the Hawks.
Bollig, Sharp and Leddy scored in a span of 3:55 in the second period after the Hawks had only 4 shots in the first period.
“I thought we played really well and then all of a sudden it was 3-1,” Ladd said. “And then you maybe get outside your game a little bit and try doing things to catch up and dig a deep hole.”
Jets coach Claude Noel thought Sharp's goal was the killer.
“I thought that was a play that really killed our team,” Noel said.
Al Montoya replaced Pavelec after Leddy's goal at 5:49 of the second. Pavelec had stopped 10 of 14 shots.
Crawford said he saw most of the 27 shots he faced.
“I think most of their situations were crashing the net on the wing,” Crawford told reporters. “A couple I had to fight for through screens, but most of them — a couple of rebounds there — our guys were able to clear after.”
Patrick Kane nearly added to the Hawks' lead early in the third period when he was given a penalty shot after being hooked by Jets defenseman Grant Clitsome on a breakaway.
Kane's backhand shot went high past Montoya, but it hit the crossbar and bounced out. Kane now is 0-for-3 for his career on penalty shots.
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Blackhawks game day
Blackhawks game day
Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames at the United Center, 6:30 p.m.
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WGN-AM 720
The skinny: These aren't good days for the Flames. They've lost two games in a row and now start a four-game road trip against the Stanley Cup champs. And they're without their best player in defenseman Mark Giordano for 6-8 weeks with a broken ankle.
Next: Winnipeg Jets at the United Center, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
— Tim Sassone