CHICAGO: Jonas Hiller and the Anaheim Ducks finally grabbed another shoot-out win. Against a good team, too.
Hiller stopped Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane in the tiebreaker, leading the Ducks to a 3-2 win yesterday and sending the Chicago Blackhawks to their third consecutive loss. Anaheim was coming off consecutive shoot-out losses to Los Angeles and San Jose. It had lost four tiebreaker games in a row since it beat Phoenix 3-2 on Oct. 18 in its first shoot-out game of the season.
“It’s been a while,” said Hiller, who had 23 saves in regulation and overtime.
After Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago on the first shoot-out attempt, Nick Bonino responded for Anaheim. Hiller then stopped Sharp, and Kyle Palmieri beat Antti Raanta with a backhand to give the Ducks the advantage.
When Hiller made the save on Kane at the other end, it was over.
“Once the Bonino, the fluky one, went in it was, `OK, the monkey’s off our back. We’re good to go. We’re going to start scoring again, because we missed about 18 in a row.” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Raanta had 24 saves in his first home game. It was the first NHL shoot-out for the rookie, who won each of his first two starts. He looked as if he could have stopped Bonino’s attempt in the tiebreaker, but it trickled under him for the score.
“Now I know how the shoot-out’s going to be in the NHL, so we’ll have to keep on working with those also,” Raanta said.
It’s the first three-game losing streak for the Blackhawks during the regular season since February 2012. They also lost three in a row against Detroit in the Western Conference play-offs last year, but managed to advance in seven games on their way to the title.
“Frustrating. You can’t overreact to it,” Toews said of the slide. “ You just have to keep improving on the little things we do well as a team, and know that if keep working, we’ll eventually get the breaks.”
Ben Smith and Kris Versteeg scored for Chicago, which trailed 1-0 and 2-1, but rallied each time. The Blackhawks (20-6-5) still lead the NHL with 45 points.
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf scored in regulation for Anaheim (19-7-5), which has won five in a row against Chicago.
“We continue to know how to play against these guys,” Perry said. Agencies
