With Patrick Kane on a tear, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Teuvo Teravainen have comprised the Blackhawks’ “top line” in name only.
“There have been a lot of games where if Kaner doesn’t score, we’re in trouble,” Toews said.
But one game after Kane’s magnificent 26-game point-scoring streak ended, Toews, Hossa and Teravainen took matters into their own hands. Teravainen had two goals and an assist, Toews had a goal and two assists and Hossa had three assists as the top line combined for nine points in a 4-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night before 21,451 at the United Center.
“It was a good game for us,” said Teravainen, who has eight goals and 16 points on the season. “We don’t expect our second line to carry this team or score every night. Someone [else] has to step up. We had four lines going, so that’s good for us.”
The top line’s dominance pushed another outstanding effort by goalie Corey Crawford into the background. Crawford stopped 33-of-33 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and third in his last four games.
“I feel good right now,” said Crawford, who is 5-1 with a .978 save percentage (178-of-182) and 0.67 goals-against average in his last six games. “I’m really focused and I’m seeing the puck well throughout the whole game and getting a lot of help, too, from everyone. Especially tonight.”
The team effort in response to a shutout loss to the Avalanche was encouraging for coach Joel Quenneville. The Hawks did not take a penalty in a game for the first time since the season opener against the Rangers. The Hawks (18-11-4) have won five of their last seven games. The Oilers (14-17-2) had won six of their last seven coming in, but five of those victories were at home. They are 5-12-1 on the road this season. The Hawks are 13-4-1 at home.
“I liked our game,” Quenneville said. “We didn’t give up much and that’s the first step when we measure our team performance. And we generated enough.”
The complete game effort wasn’t without one sour note. Center Marcus Kruger suffered an upper-body injury when he slid into the boards early in the second period and did not return. “We’ll see tomorrow,” Quenneville said when asked if it was serious.
Earlier in the game, Niklas Hjalmarsson survived yet another scare when he struggled to get up and off the ice after an Oilers shot hit him in the knee. Hjalmarsson immediately went to the locker room, but — befitting his reputation as the No. 1 “warrior” on the team — he only missed a few shifts before returning to the ice.
“He blocks those big shots all the time, so a lot of us knew he’d be back. It’s just the way he is,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “He comes back and he’s so tough like that to be able to handle that pain.”
Artemi Panarin scored the Hawks’ fourth goal with 1:25 to play. Kane was given a secondary assist — giving him points in 27 of his last 28 games.
But Toews, Hossa and Teravainen were the stars of this show. Toews scored on a one-time off a 2-on-1 pass from Hossa for a 1-0 lead at the 14:00 mark of the first period. Toews hit Teravainen with a pass from the goal line for a one-timer that made it 2-0 at the 12:29 mark of the second period.
“I think we’re gettiong to know each otehr better every game,” Teravainen said. “Just getting the feel or each other, getting the confidence going. We had a good first period, got the goal and it was good after that.”
