The Chicago Blackhawks finally win their first game of 2012 by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 snapping their 4-game losing streak.
Even though there wasn’t any scoring in the first period, there was a lot that went on.
Jonathan Toews took a puck to the face just above his left eye off of a deflection from Duncan Keith’s shot. He missed a couple of shifts, but was quickly stitched up and later returned and finished the game.
Later in the period, Steve Montador didn’t like Jared Boll’s hit on teammate Jamal Mayers, prompting him to instigate a fight. Montador was assessed a 5-minute major penalty for fighting, a double-minor penalty for instigating the fight while wearing a visor, and another 10 minutes for a misconduct.
But it was the Blackhawks that got on the scoreboard first when Dave Bolland notched his third shorthanded goal of the season in the second period. Several minutes later, R.J. Umberger tied the score sneaking his 7th goal of the season past Corey Crawford.
To sum up the rest of the scoring, Viktor Stalberg went on to earn his first career hat trick scoring his 10th, 11th, and 12th goal of the season. He has now scored a total of 7 goals in just 3 games against Columbus this season. The Blackhawks face them two more times, if you’re wondering.
Ben Smith was recalled by the Blackhawks yesterday after finding out the injury to Patrick Sharp, and he got back on the score sheet scoring his second goal of the season.
Jimmy Hayes, Brent Seabrook, and Andrew Shaw were each credited with a team-high 4 hits.
Corey Crawford had a quiet, impressive performance stopping 32 of 34 shots and earned his 16th win of the season.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Minnesota Wild come into town on Thursday as the Chicago Blackhawks meet them for the second time this season; puck drop at 7:30pm CT!
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