Blackhawks tie team record with 5-1 win over Flyers
There's something special happening on the West Side.
Not even three days off for Christmas could slow the momentum of the Blackhawks, who tied a franchise record Friday night with their eighth straight victory.
Witnessing the dominant 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers was a crowd of 22,712, the largest ever for a regular-season hockey game at the United Center.
The Hawks (19-6-7) got 2 goals in the first three minutes, then exploded for 3 more early in the third period to nail down the win that tied the club record held by the 1971-72 and 1980-81 Hawks teams.
The Hawks can set a franchise record with a ninth straight victory Sunday night at Minnesota.
"We're just playing, having fun and enjoying the ride," said Patrick Sharp, one of the five Hawks goal scorers. "This team loves to score, and we're working away from the puck to get those chances.
"We have a pretty solid four lines, six defensemen, and we're getting great goaltending every night. You can't really find a weakness in our game right now. Whether that's going to continue, we certainly hope so."
The Hawks came out buzzing, scoring twice early and getting the crowd immediately into the game.
"We had a big crowd and we didn't want to let them down," Sharp said.
The Hawks also knew the Flyers had trouble getting into town Friday morning because of the weather and missed their morning skate.
"They had some problems so they didn't get to skate, so it was important to start well, and that's what we did," said Martin Havlat, who was maybe the Hawks' best forward with 2 assists.
Andrew Ladd, Brian Campbell, Kris Versteeg and Dave Bolland also scored as the Hawks outshot the Flyers 38-18.
Philadelphia had lost only once in regulation in its last 11 games, but the Hawks shut down an offense that features Jeff Carter, the NHL's leading goal scorer.
Carter had 1 shot on goal with Hawks defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook out against him nearly every shift.
"I thought tonight was one of our better games this year," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "All aspects and areas of our game were very solid, particularly our start."
The Hawks got goals from Ladd and Sharp in the first three minutes.
Ladd was cruising the slot to fire home a Havlat rebound at 1:13. Sharp got his 19th goal at 2:35, taking a pass from Patrick Kane and beating goalie Martin Biron with a sweet wrist shot under the crossbar.
The Hawks carried the play in the second period, outshooting the Flyers 14-1, but Biron was good.
The Hawks finally busted the game open with 5-on-3 power-play goals from Campbell and Versteeg early in the third period.
"If we didn't score there (on the 5-on-3s), they get a lot of momentum," Quenneville said. "The fact we did put us in a great spot."
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