Early in the third period Saturday night in Los Angeles, Patrick Kane scored a goal off a pass from Tomas Kopecky. Only it wasn’t that simple — the pass ricocheted off Kane into the net to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. It took video review to confirm that Kane hadn’t intentionally guided the puck with his hand.
The Blackhawks needed that goal for a whole bunch of reasons. The Kings scored later in the period to make it 2-1, but that’s where the game ended — a second straight win for the Hawks, giving them a winning record on the circus trip at 4-2 and it looks like they have begun to right their apparently sinking ship. It also made the Hawks 5-2 in the second game of back-to-backs — something not easy to do in the NHL.
Corey Crawford had his second straight good outing in goal, turning back 21 of 22 shots. With Crawford being the hot goaltender right now, coach Joel Quenneville should give him the bulk of playing time.
The entire Blackhawks team deserves the two off days they’ll have before facing the Blues at the United Center on Tuesday night.