The Chicago Blackhawks continued their NHL-record season-opening points streak on Sunday with a win over the Detroit Red Wings, as they stake out their claim as one of the best teams of all-time in the league.
According to the Associated Press, the Blackhawks 2-1 shootout win over the Red Wings gave the team at least one point in 22 games to open the season, an NHL record. The team has still yet to lose in regulation and now is 19-0-3 with 41 points to lead the league.
Patrick Kane scored the winning goal in the shootout and Corey Crawford stopped every Red Wings shot in the extra period, along with 32 saves to extend the streak. Chicago now has earned at least one point in 28 straight games extending back to last season, which trails only the Philadelphia Flyers streak from the 1979-80 season in which they did in 35 games.
"He had several big saves, particularly right after they scored to go up one," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "He kept us in there to make it a one-goal game and gave us a chance."
The Blackhawks appeared to run out of luck after Detroit's Tomas Tatar scored the first goal of the game, but Kane came through in the end.
"We keep finding a way to keep ourselves in the game or win it at the end," Kane said.
Kane was able to score to tie the game from the bottom of the right circle against Howard and he came through again later in the shootout.
"He knew the importance of it to get us to overtime," Quenneville said.
The Blackhawks have been the talk of the town and now fans are hoping for another Stanley Cup run like the team went on a couple years ago. Kane used his quick skills to fake out Howard on the shootout, putting a wrist shot past him to give the Blackhawks another road win.
Chicago now has dominated the previous streak for season-opening points, as the Anaheim Ducks set the previous record at 16 games. Both Crawford and Ray Emery have split time so far this season and it has been a huge success, as the team is ranked first in the NHL in goals against and fourth in scoring with 3.0 goals per game.
The Blackhawks are ranked third in penalty kill percentage and the only place they are struggling right now is on the power play, as they are ranked 14th, which is still not bad at all. Kane is leading the team in points and goals as well as assists, making his case as a leading Hart Trophy MVP candidate early in the lockout-shortened season.
The Blackhawks will try to continue their streak on Tuesday at home against the Wild.
