Dec. 18--The top line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Teuvo Teravainen exploded offensively and Corey Crawford was sharp in goal as the Blackhawks blanked the Oilers 4-0 on Thursday night at the United Center. Teravainen had two goals and an assist, Toews a goal and two assists and Hossa three assists to help the Hawks improve to 18-11-4. Artemi Panarin added an insurance goal late.
The Oilers fell to 14-17-2 after failing to provide any offense for netminder Cam Talbot.
Chris Kuc's Three Stars
1. Teravainen: Flashy Finn scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season.
2. Toews: The captain started the scoring with his 10th goal of the season.
3. Crawford: Goalie made 33 saves to record his fifth shutout of the season and 17th of his career.
Injury report
Hawks center Marcus Kruger left the game in the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards and did not return.
Roster report
Winger Ryan Garbutt returned to the Hawks' lineup while Brandon Mashinter was a healthy scratch. Also sitting for the Hawks was defenseman David Rundblad. Out for the Oilers were Rob Klinkhammer and Andrew Ference. No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft Connor McDavid remained sidelined with a broken clavicle.
The quote
"When I was a kid, Ottawa was one of my favorite teams growing up. I loved watching him and (Daniel) Alfredsson and (Martin) Havlat. It killed me that they lost to the Leafs every year, most years, I guess. They had so much skill and he was front and center on that team. To think I have the honor of playing with a guy like that, and see what he's accomplishing in his career, and he still does it at his age, the way he moves around the rink, he's incredible."
--Toews on linemate Hossa
Up next
At Sabres, noon, Saturday, WGN-Ch. 9.
