by CHICAGO– Patrick Kane scored his first goal of the season and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 at the United Center on Tuesday for the fourth straight game.
Taylor Raddysh, Philip Kurashev and Jonathan Tows also scored, and Alex Stlock made 29 saves for Chicago (4-2-0), who won their fourth game just on November 13 last season (4-9-2).
“It’s fun,” Kane said. “I think last year we didn’t win a game until our 10th or 11th game, so it’s nice to start this year like that. I think if you get a good start you can really push that throughout the season, so hopefully that’s the case.”
Eetu Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for Florida (4-2-1).
“We fought to the end but we had to because we were so bad in the first two halves,” said Tkachuk. “We put ourselves in a terrible position. Definitely our worst two periods of the season. We have the talent if we want to play right and play aggressively, don’t sit back and be smart with pucks. We can do what we got in the third managed and took a period and gave us a chance to win even though we had nothing to do with that start to win the hockey game.
Video: [email protected]: Kane picks corner for Season 1
Raddysh gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead after 2:57 of the first period and slapped a right circle shot from a zone entry on the power play.
It was the first time Chicago had scored the opening goal this season.
Kane pushed it up to 2-0 at 19:37 when he received a pass from Andreas Athanasou all alone in the right circle and shot at Bobrovsky from the blocker side.
“It’s a good feeling,” Kane said of his first goal. “I try not to put too much pressure on it. There will be times during the season where you go five games without a goal, but it’s probably more noticeable early in the season. It was nice to get one. Hopefully (I can ) build on it, get hot here.”
Kurashev made it 3-0 at 15:58 of the second period. He spun around Gustav Forslingwho hobbled after blocking a shot before getting the puck back on his forehand and scoring the blocker side.
Luostarinen made it 3-1 after 11:32 of the third period with a rebound.
Tkachuk then brought the lead to 3-2 at 12:47 when he deflected a shot Brandon Montor from the right spot, but Toews hit the empty net at 19:37 to make it 4-2.
Video: [email protected]: Tkachuk taps into Montour’s shot
The Panthers went 0-6 on the power play, including a 5-3 for 1:35 midway through the second period where they had three shots.
“There’s going to be a number of opportunities to look and say, ‘If that was gone, what would have happened?'” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “You know what? [The Blackhawks] well played. They defended well, they blocked shots, they got in the lanes.”
Chicago coach Luke Richardson said the penalty gave the team a “huge boost”.
“Like our sacrifice for our team and our goalkeeper, and especially the second period was huge,” said Richardson. “But even in the third period at a crucial stage of the game, when blocking shots, the guys get up and stand [on the] cheers on the bench. It gets contagious, and then it’s into the 5v6 situation, which is like a penalty shootout. I think it’s becoming a kind of identity for us that we’re ready for.”
Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson left early in the third period after being hit in the boards by Alexander Barkov.
“Not good tonight, but we’ll know more tomorrow,” Richardson said. “He’s been so good for us. We just hope it doesn’t last long. They know he’s a tough guy. He’s been great for us statistically, but to see him play off the puck this year has been for younger ones players on the team really inspiring.” , and he leads by example.
“He’s not a big guy (5-foot-8, 185 pounds) but he’s physical. And he is present, he is a voice. He’s got the experience of winning and what it takes to win, so definitely if he’s up for a bit, we’re going to miss that. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed for that tonight.”
A NOTICE: Kane’s first-half goal was his 800th equalized point. He is the third active player to reach the mark and join Sydney Crosby the Pittsburgh Penguins (896) and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (879) and the third player in Blackhawks history, along with Stan Mikita (987) and Bobby Hull (806).
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