NHL: Chicago Blackhawks 5 Carolina Hurricanes 2 recap and analysis

The game started with both teams playing aggressive and this produced breakaways shots due to the high pace of the game And especially Ward has been called to do some important stops. With 11:53 left to play in the 1st quarter Toews scored the 1st goal of the game in a breakaway 1 on 1 vs Ward who got be aren by a perfect shot under the high angle on the far side. After that goal Chicago continued to control the game and produce scoring chances who forced Ward to made other good saves, the blackhawks defense made a remarkable job to limit the Hurricanes Offense to just few long shots due to a perfect forecheck.  

Carolina started the 2nd period with the man advantage but has been Chicago the team who scored, they Did it again with their captain in the same way of the 1st one. Carolina got another PP After 2 minutes due to a goalie interference by Sharp, Hossa commited another penalty for tripping that gave the Canes a 2 men advantage but the Blackhawks penalty killers got the job done so they kept the 2 goals advantage. The Hurricanes continue to try to score gaining the control of the game but Crawford answered Great and on a breakaway Saad scored their 3rd goal of the game with a snap shot After he stayed on his shot rejected by an opponent. Chicago scored the 4th with Kruger who scored In the goal crease After a wrist shot by Shaw from the circle.The 3rd quarter started with the Hurricanes trailing by 4 and after some balanced minutes into it they finally scored the 1st goal with Liles who made a precise shot after a beautiful group action by his team who let him be in a great position to score, the opponents cheers and chances to comeback in the game ended with 12 left in the 3rd period when Hossa scored his 18th goal of the season assisted by Toews and Roszival on a wrist shot from the circle on the short side of the net. After some tries the Canes found the back of the net with Alexander Semin on a back handed shot from the goal crease well assisted by his captain Erik Staal.

Another solid win for the Blackhawks without their scoring leader Patrick Kane due to a very strong performance by the entire team especially by the defense that with their forecheck regained the possession of so many pucks that opened up a lot of counter attacks that produced scoring chances and made the difference in this game due to a very effective opportunistic nature and along with a very good performance by Crawford.

The Hurricanes have been caught too many times on counterattack and on the same time they didn't find the way to came close to Crawford and this made difficult to score for them.

My 3 stars of the game are: 3 Hossa, 2 Crawford, 1 Toews.