Glass, Forsling come up huge, Hawks edge Jets 2-1

Jeff Glass is paid to stop the puck from going into the net and he did a sensational job during the Blackhawks' 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at the United Center on Friday.

But believe it or not, the no-doubt save of the game came courtesy of 21-year-old defenseman Gustav Forsling.

With Glass on the bench, thanks to a delayed Jets penalty in a scoreless first period, the puck escaped the Hawks' offensive zone and was sliding right toward their net. The gasping crowd couldn't believe its collective eyes as the puck slid to 10 feet … five … three … one …

Then - just before it was set to cross the line - Forsling arrived to swipe it out of harm's way.

"I saw it going pretty fast so I just skated for my life," Forsling said.

Almost unbelievably, it was four years to the day that Patrick Kane scored an "own goal" from 190 feet away in a 5-3 win over the Edmoton Oilers at the United Center.

The Hawks got goals from David Kampf - his first in the NHL - and Jan Rutta to take 2-0 lead in the second period then staved off a furious challenge by Winnipeg. Patrik Laine scored with 3:41 left and he nearly tied it up with a one-timer with 1:11 remaining that Glass somehow kicked aside.

"I knew there was a guy back door," said Glass, who made 31 saves and improved to 3-1-1. "I wasn't sure who was there. But there was a lot of traffic on my left side, so I was trying to get an eye on the puck. As soon as I saw the puck go across, I knew it was going to be a bang-bang play."

Laine's 10 shots attempts (5 on goal) included 2 shots that hit the post late in the third period.

Jordan Oesterle deserves some serious kudos as well for laying out to break up a 2-on-1 with 6:47 left in the second period.

All in all, it was a stellar defensive effort from a team that's been struggling to find consistency on the back end. It was also a big win over the Jets, who sit atop the Central Division at 26-12-7.

"It was a great team effort," Glass said. "I know that cliche gets used but it really was. We checked hard all game. We really did make my life easy. It was a lot of outside shots, a lot of blocked shots. Total team effort."

The Hawks (22-16-6) are 15-4-3 when scoring first and 5-2-1 in their last eight games.

Kampf, playing in just his ninth NHL game since earning a call up from Rockford, opened the scoring at 4:51 of the second period when he tipped in a Connor Murphy blast from the point.

"It's pretty special," said Kampf, who turned 23 on Friday. "It's the best day of my life that I scored my first NHL goal on my birthday."

Rutta, who leads all Blackhawks defensemen with 5 goals, ripped a shot that found its mark at 16:25 of the second to make it 2-0.

The Hawks host Detroit on Sunday then have five days off before playing their next three games at the United Center.