CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks kick-started their league-leading offence by holding on to the puck -- and shutting down New Jersey defensively.
Matt Moore Jersey . Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night. Stephen Gionta and Michael Ryder had goals for the Devils, whose season-high four-game point streak (3-0-1) ended. New Jersey was lucky to get those two scores -- off a failed clearing attempt and a close-in turnover -- as Chicago outshot the Devils 37-12, and controlled the puck and the play. "I thought it was one of our better games all year as far as puck possession, directing plays," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we did everything we were looking to do in the game. I liked their energy, I liked their thought process, our purpose." The Blackhawks spent little time in their zone. With only a couple of exceptions, they moved the puck to their forwards efficiently and left the Devils. Sharp, who recorded his third two-goal game this season, was one of the beneficiaries. "It starts with the defence making great plays in the D-zone," he said. "Weve had great forwards here for a while that want the puck and want to score goals." The 25-year-old Kane has been better offensively this season, his seventh in the NHL. He has points in 12 straight games, matching his career high -- set earlier this season and just before his run. Kane has seven goals and 14 assists in his streak, and at least one point in all but one of his past 25 games, helping him climb into second in the NHL scoring race behind Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby. "If we can play defence like that every night, I think youre going to see more scores like that," he said. Bickells goal was his first since Nov. 10, but he missed 14 of Chicagos 19 games during that span with a knee injury. Chicago rookie Antti Raanta blocked 10 shots in his seventh straight start -- all since Blackhawks top goalie Corey Crawford suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 8. He faced the fewest shots against Chicago in a game this season. New Jerseys Cory Schneider made 32 saves. "Theyre a relentless team," Schneider said. "They dont give up on the puck and theyre always trying to force turnovers. They didnt take their foot off the gas. "We just didnt play at the level we need to play to compete." The Blackhawks outshot the Devils 12-2 in the first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes. Sharp opened the scoring at 12:59 when he snapped off a 40-foot shot from the left boards. New Jersey defenceman Mark Fayne reached toward the puck with his right glove, but deflected it past Schneider. One of the Devils two shots in the period was a dump-in from their own blue line while killing a penalty. Gionta tied it at 1 at 5:37 of the second on a deflection at the doorstep and the Devils fourth shot on goal. Following a failed Chicago clearing attempt on the left boards, Jon Merrill fired from the top of the slot. The puck struck the skate of Blackhawks defenceman Michael Kostka, then ticked in off Giontas stick. Kane put Chicago back ahead 2-1 just over 2 minutes later when he drove to the net and slammed in a rebound of Leddys shot. Schneider made a glove save on Leddys drive from the slot, but it dropped to the ice and Kane plowed over Devils defenceman Marek Zidlicky to score. Bickell made it 3-1 with 7:33 left in the period, connecting on a rising, screened shot from the right circle after taking a feed from Brandon Saad. Ryder swept in a backhand 59 seconds into the third to cut it 3-2 after he picked off a clearing pass by Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook. The Devils managed to come back from a two-goal deficit against Washington on Saturday to win in overtime. The Blackhawks didnt let that happen. "Tonight we gave away way too much space and way too much opportunity to move the puck as well," Ryder said. "Were pretty stingy on defence usually, and tonight we got away from that and tonight it shows on the scoreboard." Set up by Marian Hossas stretch pass, Sharp scored his second goal on a breakaway at 5:54 to extend Chicagos lead to 4-2. He took the feed at centre ice, streaked in alone and fired a low shot under Schneiders glove. Leddys power-play goal, on a drive from the top of the circle with 7:01 left, completed the scoring. Sharp narrowly missed a hat trick, firing the puck off the post with 39 seconds left. NOTES: Crawford has resumed skating and is expected to start practicing after Christmas, according to Quenneville. ... Giontas goal was his second in four games after not scoring in his first 20 games this season. ... Devils RW and leading scorer Jaromir Jagr was held without a point for the first time in seven games. ... New Jersey RW Damien Brunner missed his second game with a lower-body injury and C Andrei Loktionov sat out his second with an illness. ... Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who used to work in the Blackhawks front office, attended the game.
Matt Cain Jersey . The 19-year-old from Westmount, Que., was edged 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3 by third-seeded Alize Cornet of France. Cornet broke Bouchard twice in the last set and saved six break points in the three-hour match.
Hunter Pence Jersey . Linemates Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist in the first period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night. CHESTER, Pa. -- Toronto FC couldnt replicate last weeks dominating four-goal performance. Instead, the team conceded a stoppage time goal in Saturday nights 1-0 loss to playoff hopefuls Philadelphia Union. It was a familiar story for Ryan Nelsens team, which defended well and created scoring chances throughout the full 90 minutes. But the late goal, scored on a Kleberson free kick, sent Toronto home empty handed, even with the Reds playing with a man advantage for the final 15 minutes of the game. "The chances that we got were obviously very key ones," Nelsen said. "We just didnt take them, and thats football. Thats the thing about this game, generally it comes back to haunt you." Toronto was awarded the advantage after Union winger Fabinho was shown a straight red card in the 77th minute. The Brazilian was judged to have stomped on the back of Alvaro Rey after the pair became tangled up going for a ball near the far touchline. Just three minutes later, second-half substitute Robert Earnshaw had Torontos best scoring chance of the evening. Firing a freekick from 22 yards, the Welshmans strike hit the underside of the crossbar and ricocheted down, but did not cross the goal line. Philadelphia was able to clear the box with frantic defending. "I caught it so sweet," Earnshaw said. "If I caught it right, and if I hit the ball right, I thought it was going in. I got great contact on it. As soon as I saw it go over the wall, I was away. I was actually going to celebrate because I thought it was going to dip under the bar. Unfortunately it just hit the underside of the bar and came out instead of going in." Toronto had another chance at a game-winning goal in the 91st minute, whenn a Union corner kick turned into a counterattack opportunity.
Juan Marichal Jersey. Earnshaw and Rey sprung a two-on-one, but Reys shot was smothered by Zac MacMath after the Spaniard elected to cut inside and try an effort from 18 yards. "We actually capitalized on the possession and we got some good second balls and created some situations in our favour and went through on goal," Earnshaw said. "We should have done better, really. There were a couple of times where our final pass didnt really make the chance clean through, but weve got to capitalize on that. "We had, I thought, three times where we had the opportunity to really go through on goal and get the tap-in. We didnt capitalize on that." Philadelphia found the games only goal with just seconds left to play. A foul from Doneil Henry set up the Union from just 25 yards out and the sparingly-used Kleberson curled the resulting free kick past goalkeeper Joe Bendik. "It was a lovely free kick," said Nelsen. "Set pieces, and pieces of skill like that happen in life. Our free kick hits the underside of the bar and hits the line and goes out. It could have easily gone in." Toronto falls to 5-16-11 on the season, including a 2-11-3 road record. With two games left to play, Nelsens team is locked into a 9th place Eastern Conference finish and can only focus on next season. "Weve got to see a lot more character, especially if theres games like this," said midfielder Jonathan Osorio. "The next game in Chicago will be the same thing, same atmosphere. Theyre playing for a playoff spot too. "We have to show a little bit more character in our team and I think were just building to next year."
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