Hurricanes Defensive System Is Too Much For Blackhawks In 7-2 loss

CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks welcomed the Carolina Hurricanes to the United Center on Thursday night for a late-season interconference matchup. This Hurricanes team clinched the Metropolitan Division with a week remaining in the regular season, so they decided to rest a handful of their top players, including Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, Jaccob Slavin, Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Martinook, and Jordan Staal. With a large number of Chicago Wolves players in the lineup, the Hurricanes didn't miss a beat.

They scored 19 seconds into the game to begin their scoring early and often. Anton Frondell tied the game shorty after with a skilled move after Louis Crevier drove the net, but the Hurricanes took over on the scoreboard from there. They scored four unanswered goals before the third period was half over to take the 5-1 lead.

The shots were mostly even throughout, but the quality of chances favored Carolina. Less than one minute after scoring their fourth goal, however, Frondell scored his second of the game and third of his career. Once again, he was set up by Louis Crevier, who picked up his second assist of the match.

At 8:12 of the third, former Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall scored Carolina's sixth goal of the game to restore their four-goal lead. For good measure, Carolina added another one, and the 7-2 score held as the final. The only positive from a game like that is Anton Frondell, who had his first career multi-goal game.