Blackhawks 6, Coyotes 2
CHICAGO -- Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists and rookie Artemi Panarin continued his torrid points pace with three assists as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Tuesday night at the United Center.
Panarin, the NHL's rookie points leader, has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his previous three games as the Blackhawks won for the fifth time in their last six games.
The Blackhawks, who scored six goals for the second straight game, built a commanding 5-0 lead in the second period, scoring three straight power-play goals.
Andrew Ladd finished the scoring barrage, which was fueled by a five-minute penalty and game misconduct to Coyotes center and former Blackhawks player Antoine Vermette, who drove Chicago's Artem Anisimov into the boards.
Anisimov did not return after the hit.
Ladd's goal came less than two minutes after Chicago defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk fired a wrist shot past Louis Domingue not long after the Vermette penalty.
Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy, right winger Brad Richardson and Blackhawks left winger Andrew Desjardins all had third-period goals to round out the scoring.
Arizona, which is out of the playoff picture, lost for the fourth time in five games.
Chicago took a 3-0 lead at 6:24 of the second period when Patrick Kane scored a power play goal. Kane, who reached 100 points for the season on April 3, took a pass from Panarin, who also had assists on the Ladd and Van Riemsdyk goal.
Blackhawks goalkeeper Scott Darling, making his 10th straight start because of a upper-body injury to Corey Crawford, made 29 saves on 31 shots.
The Blackhawks used two goals in the first period to jump out to an early advantage. Toews had a steal at mid-ice with Chicago skating a man down and slipped a shot past Domingue.
The goal, Toews' 250th of his career, came after he found right winger Richard Panik in the slot just in front of Domingue to give Chicago a 1-0 lead just more than five minutes into the game.
NOTES: Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said G Corey Crawford will "absolutely" start Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Crawford, who skated Tuesday morning and said he is "literally day to day," has been out since March 14 with an upper-body injury. ... Chicago F Marian Hossa (lower-body injury) missed Tuesday's game, but Quenneville said Hossa will return before the regular season ends Saturday. ... Blackhawks F Andrew Shaw (upper-body injury) missed his second straight game. ... Chicago D Duncan Keith served the third game of a six-game concussion after hitting Minnesota's Charlie Coyle last week. ... Coyotes D Niklas Grossman was scratched again and remains away from the team because his wife is having a baby. ... Arizona C Martin Hanzal (upper body) remains out and, like Grossman, did not make the trip with the team as the Coyotes finish the regular season with four games on the road.