Corey Crawford Makes 32 Saves In Blackhawks’ 3-0 Win Over Kings

Corey Crawford made 32 saves at United Center on Sunday to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, thus earning his first shutout of the season and 20th of his career.

Corey Crawford Makes 32 Saves In Blackhawks’ 3-0 Win Over Kings

“It’s nice,” Crawford said. “Every once in a while … mix [a shutout] in.”

The goalkeeper had eight saves in the first period, 11 in the second and 13 in the third against the Kings (4-5-0), who lost to the St. Louis Blues 1-0 on Saturday.

Crawford also took the time to praise his defense.

“That was our best game defensively,” Crawford said. “All our [defensemen] played great tonight. We’re moving the puck well and we’re on the same page in our [own] zone. That was a great game by them.”

Jonathan Toews, Artem Anisimov and Marian Hossa each scored a goal for the Blackhawks (5-3-1). Anisimov extended his career-high point streak to seven games with his goal.

Peter Budaj made 26 saves in his sixth consecutive start for Los Angeles, which is missing injured goalies Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff. 

Toews gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 6:54 of the first on the first of four power plays for the Blackhawks in that period.

“We were sluggish in the first period and I think we knew they would come out the way they did,” said Kings coach Darryl Sutter, who remained stuck on 599 career NHL coaching wins. “I think their top two lines in the first period really controlled the pace of play. We got out of the first period thankful it was only 1-0.”

Anisimov doubled the lead at 13:30 of the second. He scored off a feed from Hossa, who later made it 3-0 with an empty-net goal with 1:10 remaining to end a late power play.

Chicago went 2-for-7 with the man-advantage and killed both Los Angeles power plays for their first perfect penalty-killing effort of the season.

Budaj stopped the Blackhawks from scoring on a power play late in the first, which would have put Chicago up 2-0. Blackhawks defenseman Ben Seabrook sent a slap through traffic with 2:46 remaining in the period and the puck almost fell into the net. Budaj fell on it and then cleared it.

Anisimov extended his career-high point streak with his second-period goal. The play began with a drop pass from Artemi Panarin to Hossa, who carried the puck to the net and sent a pass to Anisimov for a goal that gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. “As soon as we play a little give-and-go with [Panarin], I saw there was one guy between us,” Hossa said. “I saw Anisimov. I just tried to hold it and make a good play to him through the back end.”

Hossa also celebrated scoring his 500th career goal.

The Kings played without defenseman Brayden McNabb, who suffered an upper-body injury. Matt Greene entered the lineup to replace McNabb. Blackhawks rookie defenseman Gustav Forsling missed his second game due to an upper-body injury.

The Kings will next host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, while the Blackhawks will host the Calgary Flames that same day.

CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 18: Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks stops the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center on October 18, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Flyers 7-4. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)