Blackhawks Pick Up 50th Win In 3-1 Win Over Blue Jackets

By Randy Holndoner (@bhawkschatter)

Artemi Panarin scored twice (26th & 27th), and Patrick Kane had three assists as the Chicago Blackhawks earned their 50th win of the season with a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The win puts the Blackhawks nine points ahead of the idled Minnesota Wild for the top spot in the Central Division and the Western Conference.

Panarin wasted no time to get the Blackhawks on the board as they took advantage of a very early power play and tallied just :32 into the game.  Nick Foligno broke a personal nine game goalless streak by tying the game at 1 with under three minutes remaining in the period.

The game stayed that way for :22 before Marian Hossa took a pass from Kane on a 2-on-1, and deked Sergei Brobovsky (21 saves), who had no chance of stopping it, to give the lead back to the Blackhawks.  It was his 26th of the season.

The game stayed close as Corey Crawford (32 saves) and Bobrovsky traded saves until Panarin scored an empty-netter at the end to seal the victory.

Notable Mentions:  The Blackhawks accumulated 50 wins for just the second time in franchise history.  The last time was in the 2009-10 season when they won 52 games and won the Stanley Cup.  Kane's 3rd assist of the night gave him 750 career points (285G 465A).  Jonathan Toews picked up his 350th career assist.  The Blackhawks managed to win with winning an incredible low, 33% of their faceoffs.  This will be an Achilles heel for them if they cannot start winning more come playoff time.  Artem Anisimov may return for the first game if he is healthy. 

3 Stars of the Game
1st - CHI - Corey Crawford - 32 Saves, .970 SV%)
2nd - CHI - Patrick Kane - 3A
3rd - CHI - Marian Hossa - GWG
 
Next Game: Sunday, April 2nd, Home, against the Boston Bruins, 11:30am CT.

LET'S GO HAWKS!!! 


Pictures provided by nhl.com