The Chicago Blackhawks head into Christmas break with a 5-1 home victory against the Montreal Canadiens. They are now 8-1-1 in the month of December and have improved their home record to 12-2-3.
After a scoreless first period, Andrei Kostitsyn cracked open the scoring on the power play putting Montreal up 1-0 early in the second.
Later on in the period, Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp recorded goals 21 seconds apart from each other that quickly put Chicago up by a goal and they didn’t look back after that.
Viktor Stalberg had his second straight multipoint game by registering a goal and an assist tonight and has also recorded at least a point in five of the last six games.
Jonathan Toews buried the empty-netter that sealed the outcome of the game, but Bryan Bickell decided to contribute before the clock struck 0 and added a goal with seconds winding down in the final period.
Corey Crawford was back in net for the first time since December 5th and was named the #1 star of the game tonight stopping 20 of 21 shots.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Chicago Blackhawks get a 5-day rest to enjoy their Christmas break until they welcome in division opponent Columbus on Monday night; puck drop at 7:30pm CT!