CHICAGO -- Kevin Lankinen made 41 saves for his second career shutout, Patrick Kane and Pius Suter scored and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Florida Panthers 3-0 on Thursday at the United Center.
It was the Hawks’ second home win over the Panthers in three nights — they won 3-2 on Tuesday. The fourth-place Hawks (16-13-5, 37 points) pulled within seven points of the third-place Panthers (20-9-4) in the Central Division.
Lankinen had 30 saves through two periods, including 9 of 9 on the penalty kill. Lankinen’s first shutout came in a 2-0 road win Feb. 17 over the Detroit Red Wings, when he made 29 saves.
The highlight Thursday night was Lankinen staring down a three-on-none rush.
Jonathan Huberdeau tried to catch Lankinen with a backhander, but Lankinen went into the splits to cut off Huberdeau’s angle with just less than three minutes left in the second period.
Another gem came earlier, at the 7:11 mark, when Lankinen stopped Markus Nutivaara, Mason Marchment and Owen Tippett consecutively during the Panthers’ third power-play opportunity.
