Blackhawks beat Islanders in shootout
The Blackhawks used their smoking-hot power play and an impressive performance from goalie Cam Ward to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 in a shootout at the United Center on Tuesday.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane scored in the shootout, Ward thwarted both Islanders attempts, and the Hawks went into the all-star break and bye week with back-to-back victories.
The Hawks (18-24-9) don't play again until Feb. 1 in Buffalo.
"Our work ethic was pretty good," Toews said. "Sometimes it's easy to let your mind kind of wander elsewhere. We did a good job of not getting ahead of ourselves and focusing on the job. That was a pretty good team win."
Dylan Strome and Toews both scored on the man advantage, which has registered at least one goal in nine straight games.
Strome cashed in on a 5-on-3 when he stuffed a shot past Robin Lehner at 6:05 of the second period to tie the game at 1-1. It was the first goal allowed by the Islanders (29-16-4) in nearly 159 minutes. New York was 15-3-0 in its last 18 games.
"That team's playing well," said Toews, who knotted things up at 2-2 with 22 seconds remaining in the second period. "They play really good defensively, they don't give up much and they've got some lines that can create in their own zone. We had to work for it tonight."
Ward, who came in with league-worst numbers in save percentage (.884) and goals-against average (3.99), made 34 saves to improve to 8-8-4.
"I thought it was nice for him not to go into the break with the taste of the New Jersey game in his mouth," said coach Jeremy Colliton, referring to the Hawks' 8-5 loss last week in which Ward allowed 6 goals. "He's been good for us. At times he hasn't had a lot of support. Proud of him, happy for him and he played really well tonight."
The Hawks improved to 3-6-0 under Colliton in games that go past regulation.
Rotating D:
Jeremy Colliton continued rotating his defensemen as he elected to sit Carl Dahlstrom in favor of Henri Jokiharju against the Islanders. It was Dahlstrom's first healthy scratch since he was recalled from Rockford on Dec. 12.
"It's no reflection on his play," Colliton said. "He's been great - love how he's playing. That's the conversation I had with him yesterday.
"He's been a nice surprise for us and played big minutes and tough, tough matchups."
Dahlstrom has 6 assists and is a plus-4 while averaging almost 19.5 minutes in 18 games.
Gustav Forsling, who remains on injured reserve with an upper-torso injury, skated Tuesday morning and said he's ready to return. Colliton wouldn't say if the Hawks would carry eight D-men or if they would assign Forsling to Rockford. If the latter happens, Forsling could play when the IceHogs host Manitoba on Friday and Iowa on Saturday.
Jokiharju played just under 13 minutes, took 1 shot on goal, had 3 hits and blocked 3 shots.
Slap shots:
Alex DeBrincat had 2 assists vs. New York. He has at least 1 point in seven of the last eight games. ... The Hawks put 40 shots on goal against the Islanders, only the second time a team has done that against New York in 15 games. ... With his 5-point performance vs. Washington on Sunday, Patrick Kane reached the 70-point mark for the eighth time in his career. Only four other Hawks have accomplished that feat - Stan Mikita (13), Steve Larmer (11), Bobby Hull (10) and Denis Savard (10). ... Brendan Perlini practiced Tuesday for the first time since suffering a concussion against the Rangers last week, but he did not play against the Islanders.