Crawford lifts Blackhawks to fourth straight win

WINNIPEG -- Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist to help the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Thursday.
Vinnie Hinostroza, Tommy Wingels and Michal Kempny also scored for the Blackhawks (16-11-5), who won their fourth straight. Corey Crawford made 27 saves for his 15th win.

WATCH: [All Blackhawks vs. Jets highlights]
"That's probably the biggest win this year, coming up against maybe the hottest team in the league," Kane said. "They're playing great this season, they're a tough team to play in this building, they're very fast and we couldn't have asked for a better start."
Nikolaj Ehlers scored his 15th for the Jets (18-9-5), who had not lost in regulation in 11 games at Bell MTS Place. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves, losing for the third time in his past four starts (1-2-1).

The Jets are 1-3-1 in their past five games.
"[We] just weren't quick," Jets forward Blake Wheeler said. "We came out a little flat and it's 3-0 halfway through the first period. It's an uphill climb. It isn't insurmountable, we just couldn't find a way to get it back on our terms."
Hinostroza scored on the Blackhawks first shot of the game, converting a one-timer on a cross-ice pass from Patrick Sharp at 1:50 of the first period.
Wingels scored on a wrist shot from the slot to make it 2-0 at 6:08, and Schmaltz made it 3-0 at 10:21, tipping Duncan Keith's point shot past Hellebuyck for Chicago's third goal on their first five shots.

"I thought our first two periods were great," Schmaltz said. "Let them back in [in the third], I took a penalty there, but [Crawford] made some really big saves for us. Even though it was 5-1, it could have been tighter than that. He made some unbelievable saves as always."
Kane's one-timer made it 4-0 at 11:05 of the second period.
Ehlers scored five seconds into the power play at 5:35 of the third period to bring the Jets within 4-1.
"We got going a little, had some good chances that we just weren't able to score on," Ehlers said. "But we didn't score. We didn't score enough and we let too many pucks in our own net."
Kempny, who had been a healthy scratch the past 13 games, scored his first of the season at 8:21 to make it 5-1.

Goal of the game

Hinostroza's goal at 1:50 of the first period.

Save of the game

Crawford's save on Mark Scheifele at 6:51 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Kane's goal at 11:05 of the second period.

They said it

"We just played everything great. Our [defensemen] were solid. We didn't give up that many chances, a lot of stuff to the outside. Guys were blocking shots, a lot of great plays offensively. That's definitely a big win for us in the season."-- Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford
"I don't think we need to look anywhere, to be honest. We just need to play the game. We've got 50 games left, so there's still a lot of work to do. Looking at the standings right now, we're in good shape but we need to keep working on our game. We need to get better. We can't start games the way we did today, and I'm positive the guys are pretty set on getting that changed quickly."-- Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers

Need to know

Kane has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games. … Crawford is 8-0-2 in his past 10 games and has allowed three goals or fewer in nine. … Ehlers has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in his past 12 games.

What's next

Blackhawks: Host the Minnesota Wild on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Jets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, FS-MW, NHL.TV)