Kane’s shootout tally lifts Hawks past Panthers 3-2

 

SUNRISE—After a taxing win against a reworked team, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville gave the credit to his goalie.Patrick Kane scored the only goal in a shootout, leading Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks past the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Thursday.Crawford stopped 41 shots and all three shootout attempts before Kane’s backhander went through Jacob Markstrom’s legs. Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa scored in regulation for the Blackhawks.Ed Jovanovski and Stephen Weiss scored for Florida, while Markstrom made 31 saves. Florida tied the score with 2:04 left in regulation when Jovanovski deflected a shot from Dmitry Kulikov and tipped it past Crawford.Trailing 2-0, the Panthers scored late in the second period. Weiss took a pass from Kris Versteeg between the circles. His first shot bounced off the skate of a Hawk defenseman, but Weiss grabbed the rebound and poked in the puck at 18:19. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead on Toews’ goal at 4:04 of the first. Kulikov passed the puck in his own zone but it was picked off by Andrew Brunette. He passed to Toews in front and he pushed the puck past Markstrom.The Blackhawks stretched their lead to 2-0 in the second. Kane passed the puck across the ice to Hossa at the bottom of the right circle. His slap shot beat Markstrom at 4:51.Hossa has four goals and an assist in the last four games against Florida.The Blackhawks are in the beginning of a stretch in which they will play 10 of 13 games on the road.

NOTES—Duncan Keith, who left last Monday’s game with an upper-body injury, was scratched. … Daniel Carcillo was back in the Blackhawks’ lineup after serving a two-game suspension for an illegal check on the Hurricanes’ Joni Pitkanen. … Florida LW Sean Bergenheim was back on the ice after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. … Panthers LW Tomas Fleischmann extended his points streak to six games. … Florida D Erik Gudbranson was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. … Florida’s Brian Campbell, Versteeg and Tomas Kopecky all faced their former team for the first time.