Blackhawks Get By Panthers

    The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks made their annual visit to South Florida and defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 in a shootout at BB&T Center on Tuesday night. The Blackhawks didn't make an appearance here last season due to the NHL lockout. The Panthers tried to come back for the third consecutive game after being behind following two periods of play, however they lost in the shootout.
    Chicago(6-1-2) compiled two goals during the second period to get a considerable lead. Duncan Keith took a top left circle shot that was redirected by Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews in the crease area at 5:18 for a 1-0 lead.
    Florida(3-6-1) was awarded a penalty shot with 10:36 left in the second when Jonathan Huberdeau was tripped up by Michal Handzus when he got an extra step on him through the slot area. Huberdeau was eventually stoned on a forehand attempt by a right leg save of Corey Crawford.
    The Blackhawks extended their lead to 2-0 at 16:49 in a rush up the ice. Niklas Hjalmarsson passed the puck from his own right corner to Andrew Shaw and he carried it out of the Chicago zone. Bryan Bickell received a lead pass in the neutral zone and crossed the Panthers blue line. His initial shot from the high slot was blocked, but he fired a wrist shot from the left circle that sailed over the left shoulder of Tim Thomas and into the cage.
    The third period belonged to the Cats as they put in two goals to tie the game and send it into overtime. Tomas Fleischmann blasted a one-time slap shot from the inner right circle on a feed from Aleksander Barkov in the left circle at 9:04.
    Dmitry Kulikov evened it at 2-2 for the Panthers with 8:09 remaining in regulation. Keith sent a clearing cross-ice pass across that was stopped by Kulikov and he rifled a snap shot in from just above the left circle. Thomas had to leave the game because of a lower-body injury with 2:59 to go and was replaced by Jacob Markstrom.
    The defending champs dominated in the shootout phase. Toews went first for Chicago and put in a wrist shot between the legs of Markstrom. Huberdeau was stopped on a forehand shot on another leg save by Crawford. On both clubs second attempts, Patrick Kane delayed his shot and missed with the backhand while Brad Boyes faired no better on his forehand shot. Patrick Sharp clinched the victory on a forehand shot on the third attempt by the Blackhawks.
    The Cats were outshot 22-14 after two periods and 29-22 in the entire game. There were a limited amount of power plays as Chicago went 1-for-2 and Florida went 0-for-1. Crawford improved to 5-1-2 for the Blackhawks, who are now 5-0-1 in their last six games. The Panthers have lost seven of their last nine games as Markstrom was credited for the loss and dropped to 1-3-1.