The Associated Press
CHICAGO—Patrick Kane found a way to stay on a roll. So did Corey Crawford.
Kane extended his points streak to 26 games, and Crawford made 30 saves for his second-straight shutout, as the Chicago Blackhawks blanked the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 last night.
Kane, the NHL’s leading scorer with 46 points, had the second assist on Duncan Keith’s power-play goal midway through the first period.
“We’re all having fun watching it; enjoying the different fashions that he’s been able to keep moving forward,” noted Chicago coach Joel Quenneville.
Kane could have had more in this one, but the assist was his only mark on the scoresheet—and he wasn’t exactly sure what happened on the play.
“I think I passed it and it went in 10 or 15 seconds later,” Kane recalled.
“I didn’t know I had an assist until they announced it.
“I was hoping they didn’t get it wrong and they’ve got to call it back,” he added.
Dennis Rasmussen, Andrew Shaw, and Brandon Mashinter all scored late in the third for the Blackhawks, now winners of four-of-five games.
Kane surpassed Sidney Crosby’s 25-game streak, set in 2010-11, for the longest in the NHL since 1992-93.
The Blackhawks’ right-winger has 16 goals and 24 assists during his run—and a point in 29 of Chicago’s 31 games.
Ryan Miller had 26 saves for the Canucks.
Rasmussen made it 2-0 with 8:24 left in the third before Shaw added an empty-netter with 31 seconds to go.
With Miller back in the net, Mashinter completed the scoring with 10 seconds left for his first NHL goal.
Crawford has four shutouts this season—tied for the league lead with Jake Allen (St. Louis) and Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota).
“He’s been awesome,” Keith said. “He’s made huge saves when we’ve needed him.
“And when he’s going like that, it allows us to make more mistakes and play with a little more confidence.”
Crawford’s shutout was the 16th of his career and followed a 25-save effort in a 2-0 win against Winnipeg on Friday.
For the second-straight time, the goalie credited his team’s perfect penalty-killing (3-for-3 against Vancouver) and shot-blocking (15).
“Our team is starting to come around,” noted Crawford.
“Our PK is really strong, and it seems like we’re just getting better and better here.”
The Canucks opened a six-game trip yesterday that continues to Minnesota, Philadelphia, Detroit, Florida, and Tampa Bay.
“I thought our guys had a good desire tonight,” said Canucks’ coach Willie Desjardins.
“I thought we wanted the game.
“We did everything we could to win and we just came out on the wrong end of it,” he reasoned.
Crawford was especially sharp in the second period.
He came up with a quick pad save on Daniel Sedin’s tip-in attempt during a power play about five minutes in, then a lunging glove save on Chris Higgins’ rebound midway through.
Elsewhere in the NHL, the N.Y. Islanders blanked New Jersey 4-0 and Colorado beat St. Louis 3-1.
