Blackhawks defeat Blue Jackets for 50th win
CHICAGO -- Artemi Panarin scored two goals and Patrick Kane had three assists as the Chicago Blackhawks cruised to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.
Marian Hossa also scored as Chicago (50-21-7) secured its second 50-win regular season in franchise history. Four games remain as the Blackhawks chase the franchise record of 52 wins (2009-10).
Captain Nick Foligno scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who have tallied only nine goals in their past six games. Columbus (49-20-8) finished the month with a 10-4-2 record.
Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 32 of 33 shots to improve to 32-16-3 on the season.
Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky allowed two goals on 23 shots to drop to 41-14-5. Bobrovsky sustained a loss in regulation for the first time since Feb. 19.
Chicago has earned points in 18 of its past 21 meetings (16-3-2) against Columbus.
Panarin finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 43.9 seconds remaining in the third period.
The Blackhawks capitalized on an early power play to grab a 1-0 lead only 32 seconds after the opening faceoff. A faceoff win by captain Jonathan Toews preceded a hard wrist shot by Panarin, who netted his 27th goal of the season and his third goal in as many games.
Columbus evened the score at 1 with 2:45 to go in the first period. Sam Gagner fed a pass from behind the net to Foligno, who ripped a one-timer for his 25th goal of the season.
Twenty-two seconds later, Hossa scored on a two-on-one rush with Kane to put Chicago on top 2-1. Hossa turned to his backhand as Bobrovsky slid across the crease.
NOTES: The Blue Jackets did not arrive in Chicago until Friday afternoon. The team's charter plane had mechanical problems Thursday night and was forced to return to Raleigh-Durham International Airport about 30 minutes after takeoff, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Team personnel arranged for players to spend the night in Raleigh, where they had lost a road game earlier in the evening against the Carolina Hurricanes. ... Blackhawks RW Jordin Tootoo returned to the lineup in place of RW Tomas Jurco, who was a healthy scratch. ... Blue Jackets RW Oliver Bjorkstrand missed his fifth consecutive game because of an upper-body injury. ... Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa scored his 525th career goal to move past Bryan Trottier for 34th place on the NHL's all-time list.