Blackhawks shut out Ducks, win fourth in row

CHICAGO -- Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 3-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at United Center on Saturday.

Brandon Hagel, Patrick Kane and Dominik Kubalik scored, and Alex DeBrincat had two assists for Chicago (15-18-5), which won its fourth straight game. Fleury got his third shutout of the season and his 70th in the NHL.
The winning streak began after the players held a meeting following their sixth straight loss, 6-4 at the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 6.
"I think the thing I like about it," Blackhawks coach Derek King said, "and this is where you kind of get to know your team a little better, is when they do close that door and they have a chat and powwow, we know what's going on, but we (the coaches) don't know what's being said. The fact they acknowledged something had to be said or done about it, that's great. That means they're a team, and supporting each other to go on a winning streak here is a bonus."
Lukas Dostal made 33 saves in his second NHL start for Anaheim (19-15-7), which has lost three in a row and eight of 10.
"Hey, I thought he did his job," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said of Dostal. "That first goal was a crazy one. The puck comes out and it's kind of too far out for him to grab it. The guy comes out of the box. People who say there's no luck in the game are crazy. There's a fair amount of luck that goes with it. He made some good saves along the way. I thought he was solid. I thought he gave us a real, real solid game."
Hagel made it 1-0 on a 2-on-1 at 5:33 of the second period when he took a pass in the slot from Erik Gustafsson, who had come out of the penalty box 10 seconds earlier. Gustafsson chased down Riley Stillman's pass in the left corner of the offensive zone moments after Jakub Galvas cleared the puck off the goal line for Chicago and Fleury stopped Derek Grant in close.

"I can't remember quite a game like that, where we were literally a quarter of an inch from having a goal," Eakins said. "They get lucky coming out of the box and put one in. Another one when we were killing a penalty, we had an unbelievable chance. Another one where Fleury was excellent and they came right down and put it in our net. Good chances were there."
Kane pushed the lead to 2-0 on the power play at 4:22 of the third period. He took a feed from DeBrincat, moved in on Dostal and put the puck past the goalie's outstretched stick.
"Yeah, fun game, you know?" Kane said. "'Kinger' was saying in the room, 'Saturday night, where would you rather be?' And he had a good point. Fun to play in front of a crowd like that. I think knowing we've won three in a row before tonight brought excitement, and we can build on this one too. Make it four in a row and try to keep going as a team. It's been fun."
Kubalik scored into an empty net 16:39 for the 3-0 final.

Anaheim placed defenseman Cam Fowler and goalie Anthony Stolarz in NHL COVID-19 protocol before the game. The Ducks' leading scorer, forward Troy Terry (36 points; 14 goals, 22 assists), missed a second straight game in protocol, and forward Sonny Milano was scratched after sustaining an upper-body injury Friday in a 7-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild.
Ducks forward Trevor Zegras said they'll have to make do while key players are out.
"Just try not to think about it," he said. "Just go out there and play the best you can for whatever time you're out there. The last couple games have been tough. I feel like we've been putting a lot of pucks on net and creating some good chances. It's just a matter of kind of playing better in our end and cleaning up the little stuff."
NOTES: Fleury became the 14th goalie in NHL history with 70 shutouts. He has played 909 games (884 starts). … Kane has scored nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. … The Blackhawks placed forward Brett Connolly in protocol.