Blackhawks take care of Caps in Sunday matinee
Oh, boy.
That has to be the reaction from the other 29 NHL teams after watching the Blackhawks beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 at the United Center on Sunday.
To be sure, it wasn't a dominant performance by the Hawks, but it was a victory over a team that came in with just 11 losses in regulation.
In 60 games.
And it came without Marian Hossa. Or Marcus Kruger. Or newly acquired winger Dale Weise.
"Their core group of guys are really, really good," said Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen. "They've been together for a long time. They know how to win, how to create, be hard to play against. ... They're a good, good team."
The Hawks (39-20-5) got goals from Patrick Kane (his 36th), Jonathan Toews (his 22nd) and Dennis Rasmussen (his first in two-plus months) and 28 saves from Corey Crawford. They moved back into first place in the Central Division, 1 point ahead of idle Dallas.
"It kind of felt like a playoff game today," said Crawford, who won for the 33rd time to tie a career high. "It started out really fast. We got (outplayed) at the start, but I thought we kept getting better and better as the game went on."
Both coaches echoed Crawford's thoughts about the first period when Washington took 17 shots on goal to the Hawks' 6.
"We should have been ahead in that first period, maybe by more than one goal," said Caps coach Barry Trotz. "Crawford was really huge."
Said Quenneville: "It was tough watching that first period. It looked like a track meet and they were a little quicker than us on some of the rush chances, for sure. But we settled into the game, got through it 1-1, (and) it was like a win."
Washington struck first, but held the lead for all of 31 seconds thanks to a Trevor van Riemsdyk pass to Kane, who was all alone in front of Braden Holtby. It was Hart Trophy candidate vs. Vezina Trophy candidate, and it was Kane by a mile with a back-and-forth move that turned Holtby into a sprawling pretzel.
The Hawks took a 2-1 lead with 1:45 to go in the second period when Toews scored on the power play. Andrew Ladd - standing right in front of Holtby - started the sequence when he backhanded a pass that was intended for Andrew Shaw but bounced off defenseman Nate Schmidt instead. That's when Teuvo Teravainen exploded, pushed the puck to an awaiting Toews, and the Captain buried it into a wide-open net.
"I just kind of (hid) there," Teravainen said. "I saw (Toews) going out there. It was just a good play."
Rasmussen made it 3-1 with 7:13 left in the game when he blasted home a one-timer after taking a perfect kick pass from Richard Panik.
The Capitals made it interesting when Evgeny Kuznetsov scored with 3:21 remaining with Washington playing 5-on-3, but Crawford stoned Alex Ovechkin on a one-timer with 2:07 left, and the Hawks walked out of the United Center with a win over a team running away with the Presidents Trophy.
And did we mention that more help is on the way?
Oh, boy, indeed.
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