Blackhawks 3, Kings 1
CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa, Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp scored goals, while goalie Antti Raanta stopped 21 shots as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 Sunday at the United Center.
It was pretty clear right from the outset that the Blackhawks came into Sunday's game with a big chip on their shoulders after Saturday's humiliating 7-3 loss at Toronto. That defeat snapped the Blackhawks' three-game winning streak in which they had outscored opponents 19-6.
With Sunday's win, Chicago improved to 24-7-5.
The win moved Chicago coach Joel Quenneville into a tie with Pat Quinn (684) for fourth place on the NHL's all-time coaches win list. Scotty Bowman, now a special assistant for the Blackhawks, holds the all-time record with 1,244 wins, followed by Al Arbour (782) and Dick Irvin (692).
Just seconds after Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya was sent off-ice for a tripping penalty, the Blackhawks tallied a shorthanded goal to take an early 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the first period.
Team captain and center Jonathan Toews made a perfect pass from behind the net to a waiting Hossa, and the veteran right wing did the rest, pushing the puck easily past Kings goalie Ken Scrivens for his 14th goal of the season.
Just over four minutes later, Chicago capitalized again on Versteeg's sixth goal of the season at 9:59.
But the Blackhawks weren't done yet. With 29 seconds left in the opening period, Sharp let fly a 25-foot slapshot past an out of position Scrivens to make it 3-0 in Chicago's favor. It was Sharp's 16th goal of the season, and his seventh in the last 10 games, on the power play.
Los Angeles (22-8-4) saw its six-game winning streak end, but avoided what could have been its first shutout in regulation time this season when defenseman Alec Martinez (second goal of season) beat Raanta at 16:06 of the third period.
Chicago outshot Los Angeles by a 40-to-22 margin.
NOTES: Attendance was 21,426. ... Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of Blackhawks great Keith Magnuson, who was killed when a car driven by former NHL player Rob Ramage crashed into another vehicle outside Toronto. Magnuson was killed and Ramage was subsequently sent to prison for four years after being found guilty of impaired driving. ... Chicago plays at Nashville on Tuesday before a three-game homestand against Vancouver, New Jersey and Colorado. ... The Kings return to Los Angeles to start a four-game road trip against Edmonton on Tuesday. ... C Trevor Lewis returned to the Kings lineup after being on injured reserve from Nov. 21 to Dec. 14. ... Kings rookie backup G Martin Jones is the first goalie in NHL history to allow an average of less than one goal per game while winning the first five appearances of his career. Jones is 5-0-0 (including two shutouts) with a 0.99 GAA, having stopped 148 of 153 shots. ... The Blackhawks have scored at least one power-play goal in each of last nine games (12 goals in total).
