Blackhawks Fall To Hurricanes, 2-1
CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Faulk and Victor Rask scored, backup Eddie Lack stopped 35 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, on Sunday night.
Chicago's Brent Seabrook spoiled Lack's shutout bid with 3 seconds left and Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford on the bench for an extra attacker. The Blackhawks lost 4-0 to Dallas in their previous game on Tuesday night.
Lack wasn't consistently tested until the Blackhawks outshot Carolina 19-9 in the third period. No. 1 goalie Cam Ward got the night off while the Hurricanes played on the second night in a row.
The Hurricanes' Jeff Skinner had two assists.
Faulk scored his second even-strength goal of the season after netting his first on Saturday night in the Hurricanes' 3-1 win over New Jersey. The Carolina defenseman leads the NHL with 12 power-play goals and is tied for the team lead with 14 goals overall.
Crawford made 25 saves.
The Blackhawks outshot the Hurricanes 12-11 in the scoreless first and had the better of the few chances in the frame.
Lack stretched to make a point-blank glove save on Jonathan Toews' backhander at 7:45 of the second after Toews skated across the crease unchecked.
Carolina's Andrej Nestrasil's shot hit the left post with just under 3 minutes left in the second.
Faulk finally opened the scoring with 18.2 seconds left in the period when he fooled Crawford with a rising, screened shot from the left circle. With Seabrook blocking Crawford's view, Faulk's shot sailed over the goalie's blocker.
Rask made it 2-0 at 4:45 of the third from a faceoff with another screened shot. With Phillip Di Guiseppe parked in the crease, Rask beat Crawford high on the glove side from the right circle for his 10th goal.
Lack made a couple of alert saves in the final minutes to preserve it shutout. He stopped NHL leading scorer Patrick Kane from the doorstep with 40 seconds left.
Seabrook cut it to 2-1 when his shot from the slot slipped under Lack's pads and trickled in.
NOTES: Blackhawks F Marian Hossa returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury. ... Seabrook played in his 800th career game. ... Carolina forwards Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom, members of the Blackhawks 2014-15 Stanley Cup team, skated against their former club or the first time since being traded to the Hurricanes in September in a move to open salary cap space. ... The two teams will meet again on Jan. 26 in Raleigh, N.C.
