Kane scores 399th career goal as Hawks top Blue Jackets 2-0

When the Blackhawks departed for their six-game road trip nearly two weeks ago, we said anything above .500 would be a success.

Well, mission accomplished as the Hawks - who had one contest canceled in Carolina - went 4-1-0. Coach Jeremy Colliton's squad closed out the trek with a 2-0 victory over the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Patrick Kane scored his 399th career goal with 11:15 remaining, Carl Soderberg notched an empty netter and Malcolm Subban made 26 saves in net.

The Hawks (11-6-4) are now firmly in fourth place in the Central Division in terms of points percentage (.619). Dallas (6-5-4, .533) is in fifth, while Columbus (8-8-5, .500) is in sixth.

"We answered the challenge every time," said Colliton. "Obviously Carolina was better than us (in a 5-3 victory), but we answered the bell here (with) two big games against a team we're battling with. We're learning to be professional and raise our standard, raise our minimum level."

That was especially true in the first period as the lethargic Hawks were outshot 8-3 and beaten to nearly every loose puck. But they stuck with it and totally dominated the second period by outshooting the Blue Jackets 12-3.

"I just like that we hung in there the whole night," Kane said. "Could have got frustrated, could have maybe let some adversity take over, but we just did a good job of hanging in there - waiting for our chance, waiting for our break and capitalizing on it."

That break came when Calvin de Haan's pass out of the defensive zone bounced off Columbus' Vladislav Gavrikov and right to Kane, who had just jumped over the boards. Kane patiently maneuvered through the offensive zone and beat goalie Joonas Korpisalo with a shot to the far side.

"Had a lane to the net, the D-man was coming over so I wanted to get a shot off before he closed space," said Kane, who now has 10 goals on the season and 399 for his career. "Just tried to pick my spot and hit it."

Brandon Hagel continued his impressive play, blocking 2 shots on a Columbus power play with just under 14 minutes remaining. Two of Subban's saves also came during those frantic seconds to keep the Blue Jackets off the board.

This was the second shutout of Subban's career, the other coming with Vegas in March 2019. He is now 3-1-1 on the season and has a .952 save percentage in his last four starts.

"He's been great," Colliton said. "He's a great teammate, a very hard worker and he's done a great job preparing himself to be ready when he gets the chance and he's making the most of his opportunities."

After Kane's goal, the Hawks buckled down and limited Columbus' chances. They even drew a penalty and were on the power play from 3:07 until 1:07 remained. Soderberg's goal - his third in as many games and fourth overall - came with 50 seconds remaining and iced it.

The final minutes were particularly impressive, especially considering the Hawks blew a pair of 2-goal leads to Columbus over the last two weeks.

"We get ourselves in that situation, we want to know we can close out games," Kane said. "Lot of communication, lot of bearing down when you're on the ice, making little plays to help the team and help out your teammates.

"We did a good job tonight; we didn't give up much at the end of the game there."

The Hawks now return home for two games against Detroit (6-13-3) and three against Tampa Bay (13-4-1).