Lack, Nash lift Hurricanes past Blackhawks

RALEIGH, N.C. --Ask anyone in the Carolina Hurricanes locker room, and they will tell you that their team game has been steadily growing. But no one expected a dominant performance against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
"No, not really," said Hurricanes coach Bill Peters following a 5-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at PNC Arena on Tuesday. "We just got off to a great start and stayed with it. When we get contributions through the lineup, we're a good team. We've been a good team here for a while."

Riley Nash scored two goals and Eddie Lack made 26 saves for the Hurricanes, who are three games above NHL .500 for the first time this season. Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist, one of 11 players to get at least one point for the Hurricanes (23-20-8).
"We knew it was a big game, a measuring stick to see where we're at," Nash said. "We're slowly but surely climbing up the standings. It gives us a little more confidence. We're not going to win games like that every night, but to be able to do that against the Stanley Cup championship team is huge."

The Blackhawks (33-16-4) enter the All-Star break with the best record in the Western Conference despite having their most lopsided loss of the season.
Jeff Skinner's 18th goal of the season started the scoring. Skinner went to the net with Jay McClement, creating an outnumbered chance against defenseman Nicklas Hjalmarsson. Skinner knocked the rebound of Elias Lindholm's shot past Corey Crawford from the top of the right circle.
"Getting that first goal was big," Carolina defenseman John-Michael Liles said. "[The Blackhawks] had a lot fans here, we had a lot of fans here. To get that first goal and maybe take some of their fans out of it early helps, and we generated some momentum."
The Hurricanes made it 2-0 when Nash redirected Jaccob Slavin's shot from the left-side boards for his third goal at 13:05.
Liles finished a 2-on-1 with former Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg at 15:23 to give Carolina a 3-0 lead. Versteeg kicked the puck from his right skate to his stick for his fifth of the season.
"It's not all the time you have a 2-on-1 back-door goal as a defenseman," Liles said. "Versteeg made a great pass to me. I had been out high covering (Patrick) Kane and I just broke off my coverage, and it ended up working out nicely."
Scott Darling (22 saves) relieved Crawford at the start of the second period. Crawford finished with 13 saves on 16 shots.
The change in goaltenders failed to provide a spark: the Hurricanes scored two goals 93 seconds apart in the second period.
Joakim Nordstrom, acquired with Versteeg from Chicago on Sept. 11, scrambled to slot to gather a loose rebound and beat Darling over the blocker at 10:51 for his fifth of the season. Jordan Staal and Andrej Nestrasil were strong on the forecheck to set up Nordstrom, who has scored in three straight games.
Nash, who has been a healthy scratch on numerous occasions this season, struck for his second of the game when he took Skinner's pass from behind the net and slipped a shot inside the short side post for a 5-0 lead at 12:24.
"He's a popular guy in the room," Peters said. "It's been a struggle for certain guys, there is no doubt about that, but it's competitive now. It's very competitive to get in our lineup and stay in our lineup and contribute."
Lack, who was not heavily tested, posted his second shutout in four games, raising his record to 9-9-3.

"I don't feel they got a lot of Grade-A scoring chances," Lack said. "The defense played extremely well in front of me. For me, it was important to keep the pucks at me and not give up any rebounds, just play simple."
The Blackhawks were outshot 16-6 in the first period. They had one power-play opportunity, but the Hurricanes cleared the zone five times without allowing a shot attempt.
"It was pretty evident right from the beginning that we were in a lot of trouble tonight," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We lost every single puck battle, every single race. It was an ugly game across the board and nothing positive came out of it except that it's over."
The Blackhawks enter the break having played 53 games, including four in six days, the most in the NHL. Having played four games in six days.
"The best thing to do right now is probably get away from the game for a few days and relax and get ready for the late push here," Kane said. "When we come back, we should have a sour taste in our mouth after these last three games."
The Hurricanes are hoping to make a Stanley Cup Playoffs push in the second half of the season.
"We've done a good job hanging around to be in the mix," Peters said. "Guys have got get away, recharge, refresh and get ready to make a push."