Blackhawks Shocked In Shootout By Lightning
Corey Crawford let three goals get past him again Wednesday night, but was able to hold Tampa Bay in their place. Chicago scored a goal in each period to put the game into overtime and held on to push it into a shootout. The Blackhawks struggled to get the puck past Dwayne Roloson and fell to the Lightning.
Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 42nd goal, Martin St. Louis had the shootout winner and the slumping Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a season-high four-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.
St. Louis also scored in regulation, helping Tampa Bay build a 3-1 lead before the Stanley Cup champions roared back on goals by Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews.
Dwayne Roloson made 28 saves for the Lightning, then stopped Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa in the shootout.
St. Louis scored the winner, doing a spin in front of the net, setting himself and firing the puck past goalie Corey Crawford.
The loss was the second straight for Chicago following a season-best eight-game winning streak.
Stamkos got Tampa Bay off to a fast start with just his second goal in the last 13 games. St. Louis ended a four-game drought to break a 1-1 tie before Teddy Purcell put the Lightning up 3-1 with his first goal in seven games.
It was just the second time in 10 games that the Lightning, who fell out of first place in the Southeast Division during its four-game skid, scored more than two goals.
A poor first period cost the Blackhawks in a 3-2 loss to Florida that stopped Chicago's winning streak on Tuesday night. The Panthers scored three early goals against Crawford, who gave up three more in the first 22 minutes against Tampa Bay.
Kane scored in the opening period for Chicago. Sharp's 34th of the season pulled the Blackhawks to 3-2. Toews, who had a nine-game points streak stopped against Florida, had assists on the Blackhawks' first two goals and tied it 3-all with 16:30 remaining in regulation.
NOTES: The Blackhawks lost at Tampa Bay for the first time since December 2005. They had won three straight against the Lightning. ... Chicago D Brian Campbell was scratched because of a lower body injury. C Dave Bolland left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return. ... Lightning RW Steve Downie and D Randy Jones were out with ankle injuries.
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
