10 observations: Pius Suter, Blackhawks rout Red Wings originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 on Sunday at the United Center for their second straight win.
Here are 10 observations from the victory:
1. Pius Suter put on a show on national television. He scored his first and second career NHL goal within 5:02 of each other in the opening period and then completed the hat trick in the third period. He became the second player in franchise history to record a hat trick within his first six NHL games; Art Somers was the other (Nov. 21, 1929), according to the Blackhawks.
2. Kevin Lankinen earned his third consecutive start after stopping 30 of 31 shots for a save percentage of .968 in Friday's 4-1 win over Detroit. He was solid again on Sunday, allowing only two goals on 27 shots for a save percentage of .926. He's allowed only three goals at 5-on-5 this season.
3. The Blackhawks cashed in on their first power-play of the game, making it six in a row with a tally on the man advantage. It matches the second-longest streak to open a season in franchise history (1965-66); the longest power-play goal streak to open a season by a Blackhawks team is 11 games, set by the 1990-91 team.
4. Connor Murphy scored his second goal of the season and also picked up a secondary assist. He has a four-game point streak, which is a new career-long. His career-high in goals for a single season is six, set during the 2015-16 season while with Arizona.
5. Patrick Kane registered two assists, extending his point streak to five games. He has seven points (three goals, four assists) over that span. It was the second straight multi-point outing for Kane.
6. Carl Soderberg made his Blackhawks debut and centered the third line with Mattias Janmark and Andrew Shaw; Lucas Wallmark was a healthy scratch. Soderberg's first shift came on the penalty kill. He logged 13:48 of ice time.
7. With Wallmark a healthy scratch, the Blackhawks gave Philipp Kurashev some power-play time on the second unit. He didn't get credited with an assist on Suter's power-play goal, but that goal doesn't happen with Kurashev, who later scored his second goal of the season. He's looking more comfortable by the game.
8. The Blackhawks had killed off six straight penalties against the Red Wings before giving a goal up 41 seconds into the middle frame on a 5-on-3 opportunity and another on a 5-on-4 in the third period. The Blackhawks didn't do themselves any favors by committing five minor penalties for the second straight game.
9. The Blackhawks scored only four 5-on-5 goals through the first five games. They scored four on Sunday alone. Good sign.
10. It didn't matter in the end, but Ryan Carpenter missed a wide-open net on a 2-on-1 chance at the end of Detroit's power-play in the second period and Janmark was stuffed by Jonathan Bernier on a breakaway shortly after. That could've been a potential turning point if the Blackhawks didn't score the next goal.
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