Huet, Blackhawks shut out Blues

After recording a dominant 3-0 victory over a feisty St. Louis club Wednesday night at the United Center, a win in which the Blackhawks controlled all phases of the game, winning goalie Cristobal Huet summed things up perfectly.

"The way we play is tough to play against," said Huet, who stopped all 27 shots he faced. "We expect to win a lot of games like that."

And that's just what the Hawks have been doing, winning four of their last five, the last two via shutouts.

Huet's beauty against the Blues comes on the heels of Antti Niemi's blanking of Tampa Bay on Sunday.

It marked the first time the Hawks have posted back-to-back shutouts by two different goalies since 1983, when Tony Esposito and Murray Bannerman combined to turn the trick.

"He's been playing great all year," Patrick Kane said of Huet. "He deserved that."

"It's a good relationship those guys have," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said of his two red-hot goalies. "I look for those guys to continue to play like that."

While the defense has been one of the constants for the Hawks this season, an offense which of late had been sputtering looks as if it's back on track, in part because Kane's strong play of Kane.

He assisted on all 3 goals against the Blues.

"It's nice to get some points, pick up some assists and help the boys out," said Kane, who tied a career-high with those 3 assists. "The most important thing is the win."

"Kaner had a great game," Quenneville said. "He made a lot of nice plays, and not just the ones that showed up on the scoresheet."

Kane was playing with a new tinted visor. After his 3-point night, expect to see it again soon.

"I might keep it for a while," he said with a laugh, "especially if I can keep getting points with it."

Troy Brouwer, Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa each had a goal for the Hawks, who improved to 21-8-3.

The game got a little ugly in the end as the Blues seemed to take out some of their frustration on the Hawks, who weren't in the mood to take it.

"Sometimes the score can lead to those type of things," Quenneville said. "It's part of the game.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike Spellman's game tracker</p> <p class="News">Blackhawks 3, Blues 0</p> <p class="News"><b>Three stars:</b></p> <p class="News">1. Patrick Kane, Hawks: Picked up 3 assists. Easily could have had a few more.</p> <p class="News">2. Jonathan Toews, Hawks: When he was on the ice, you noticed. Finished with 2 assists.</p> <p class="News">3. Cristobal Huet, Hawks: Turned away all 27 shots he faced, giving the Hawks back-to-back shutouts for the first time since November 2002.</p> <p class="News"><b>Key stat:</b> Brian Campbell's first-period goal was his first in 28 games.</p> <p class="News"><b>Big hitters:</b> Brent Seabrook had 4 hits in the first period, including one that knocked out a pane of glass. Dustin Byfuglien finished with a game-high 7.</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=344816">Jan. 1 big day for some<span class="date"> [12/16/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>