Chicago Blackhawks crush Dallas Stars 4-1 - NHL Update
Chicago Blackhawks have faced adversity and come out the stronger. They showed their new found confidence once again as they comprehensively defeated the recently surging Dallas Stars 4-1 at the American Airlines Center.
This was Chicago’s second straight win as they look to move up the Western Conference table. The Blackhawks currently lie sixth in the conference with 88-points, trailing the fourth placed Nashville Predators by four.
The Blackhawks were in complete control throughout the game and only Dallas Stars Jamie Benn’s goal at 14:10 in the final period crushed goaltender Corey Crawford’s hopes of getting an important shutout.
Dallas on the other hand were defeated for the second time in a row but remain third in the Western Conference with 83-points.
The Stars were unable to build offences once again and the defeat looked similar to the one they suffered in their last game against Winnipeg Jets which they lost by a 5-2 margin.
Benn said that poor performances in the first and third periods made things difficult for them and they need to perform better in order to maintain their position in the Western Conference.
"We put ourselves in a hole there, and you never want to do that against a good team like Chicago. We did a better job in the second, but had another bad start in the third that crushed us. We shied away from our game a bit. We need to play the simple game, get pucks deep, and win the blue lines. We can't shoot ourselves in the foot with bad starts."
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on the other hand was ecstatic at the win and praised his team.
"It was one of those starts. You kind of hope you get one of those once in a while. It's something we've been talking about going into the last three games, so it was nice to see the results."
Chicago may have crushed the hopes of the Stars right from the start as forward Dave Bolland got the opening goal just 10 seconds into the first period.
Their lead was doubled just a minute later as a shell shocked Stars could only look on as Patrick Sharp beat goaltender Kari Lehtonen with ease.
Two goals in one minute and Dallas was reeling.
The Stars though built some attacks in the second period as they outshot Chicago 11-6 however, they were unable to take advantage and the period ended goalless.
Chicago came out with ruthless aggression in the third period as Marian Hossa made it 3-0 at 33 seconds and the score became even more emphatic when Patrick Sharp scored his second of the night to put the Blackhawks 4-0 up.
In the lead and looking comfortable, Chicago took their foot of the gas later in the game which allowed Stars forward Jamie Benn to end Crawford’s bid for a shutout.
The Stars will look to get back to winning ways once more on Tuesday when they face Phoenix Coyotes, while the Blackhawks will face Washington Capitals at home on Sunday.
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