Blackhawks defeat the Florida Panthers 4-0.

3 goals in the 3rd? Corey Crawford with the shutout? Yes and yes.

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It seemed like the Blackhawks were determined to keep the Panthers in the game for as long as possible. After failing to convert three power play opportunities, Brent Seabrook heard my plea for a goal and scored on a beauty slapper.

As everyone held their collective breaths about what kind of Blackhawks team would show up in the 3rd, Viktor Stalberg assisted by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane eased everyone’s nerves with a quick goal not even a minute into the period. Then to cement the game Kane scored on a knuckleball of a shot & later Kopecky capitalized on an abandoned net as Vokoun seemed to be distracted by the Patrick Sharp cutout heads along the boards. Though Vokoun was almost annihilated by Stalberg in the first after Jason Garrison shoved Stalberg on to his own goaltender.

Moral of this game? Blackhawks got two points, beat a team that they should have and move up to fifth in the Western Conference, only three points behind fourth place Phoenix with two games in hand.

All good things.

Also good to see Patrick Sharp at the game, hope he’s on the road to a quick and complete recovery.

(P.S. 1 game & 1 win with Markus Kruger in the lineup! I’m not trying to make him a lucky charm or anything though.)

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Box Score:

1st Period
None

2nd Period
14:41 CHI PPG - Brent Seabrook (5) Slap Shot – Assists: D. Keith (33) & J. Toews (43)

3rd Period
00:46 CHI Viktor Stalberg (12) Wrist Shot – Assists: J. Toews (44) & P. Kane (40)
12:04 CHI Patrick Kane (25) Snap Shot – Assists: D. Keith (34) & B. Seabrook (36)
17:05 CHI Tomas Kopecky (14) Wrist Shot – Assists: M. Frolik (25) & M. Hossa (28)

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Captain Force of Nature watch: 2 assists and a +2, plus he was #2 star of the game. Just another typical game for el capitan.

Duncan Keith plus/minus rating watch: +2 with 2 assists. Beauty of a pass to Seabrook for a one-timer that ended up being the game winning goal.

Post-game quotes from @TramyersCSN:

Q on Kruger debut: “He’s aware positionally and I think his instincts are high-end. I thought it was a good start for him.”

Seabrook on GWG: “To be honest I just tried to shoot it as hard as I could.”

Post-game videos : Joel Quenneville, Viktor Stalberg, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford