Sharp scores winner, Blackhawks beat Canadiens
It's only 13 games into the season, but the Blackhawks haven't had a bigger goal than the one Patrick Sharp scored Friday night at the United Center.
At least that's how coach Joel Quenneville described Sharp's goal off a pretty feed from Patrick Kane with 4:10 to play that gave the Hawks a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Kane danced his way around defender Andrei Kostitsyn and fed Sharp for a one-timer from between the circles that beat goalie Carey Price.
The win was a solid response by the Hawks (8-4-1) after Thursday's 2-0 loss in Nashville and sent them into their five-day break on a positive note.
"Sharpie scored our biggest goal of the year, very timely," Quenneville said. "It's 2-2 late in the game and anything can happen. We needed 2 points and we would have had a whole week to think about today's game."
Kane had 2 assists and continues to be the most dangerous player on the ice many nights.
"I've been trying to come up on the defense with speed," Kane said. "Sharpie always finds a way to get open and I just fed him the puck."
Quenneville said it's no accident Kane is off to such a good start with 12 points in 13 games.
"He's got the puck a lot more this year and has more speed in his game," Quenneville said. "He's been very dangerous game in and game out. If you look at the puck possession time from this year to last year he's way up."
Except for a blip with 2.1 seconds left in the second period when he let Travis Moen score on him from behind the net, Cristobal Huet was solid again in goal for the Hawks with 20 saves.
In less than two weeks, Huet has improved his save percentage from .844 to .898 while going 3-1.
"We've been playing very solid and that's good going into a tough month of November when we're on the road quite a bit," Huet said.
The Hawks were looking good with a 2-0 lead late in the second period when things briefly fell apart.
Mike Cammalleri brought the Canadiens within 2-1 at 15:55 when he filed home a rebound, then came Moen's goal in the final seconds.
The Hawks built their 2-0 lead on goals by Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker.
Barker's goal at 9:55 came on a power play - just the Hawks' second in their last 22 chances.
"It was nice to see the power play come through and get one," Kane said.
The Hawks played most of the game without left-winger Andrew Ladd, who was ejected 3:48 into the first period for elbowing the Canadiens' Matt D'Agostini, who left and didn't return.
In addition to his game misconduct, Ladd received a five-minute major penalty.
"I thought it was a good hit," Quenneville said. "I asked the referee why it was a major and he said because the guy was injured on the play."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Tim Sassone's game tracker</p> <p class="News">Blackhawks 3, Canadiens 2</p> <p class="News"><b>Three stars</b></p> <p class="News">1. Kris Versteeg, Hawks: Had a goal and assist and played a solid all-around game.</p> <p class="News">2. Patrick Kane, Hawks: Played almost 24 minutes and set up Patrick Sharp's game winner for 1 of his 2 assists.</p> <p class="News">3. Carey Price, Canadiens: Goalie made 33 saves and was the reason the game was close.</p> <p class="News"><b>Key stats</b></p> <p class="News">The Hawks killed all 4 Montreal power plays and won 61 percent of the faceoffs with John Madden and Dave Bolland combining to go 21-13.</p> <p class="News"><b>What's this?</b></p> <p class="News">The Hawks blocked 17 shots, 2 of them by Patrick Kane.</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=333138">Eager close to returning; Toews progressing slowly<span class="date"> [10/30/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>