Patrick Sharp and the rest of his line figured into the action early on in today’s Game of the Week. Sharp connected on a fantastic goal started thanks to passes from Patrick Kane, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Jonathan Toews. Sharp’s pretty finisher was the lone goal of the first period giving Chicago a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Sharp’s goal wasn’t the only action he saw though as he accidentally got his stick up high on Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik and drew a double-minor for the infraction. Sharp’s stick got caught up in Orpik’s jersey and the blade caught Orpik right in the mouth. The Penguins will have 1:09 of power play carried over into the second period.
Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was solid in the first period saving all seven shots he saw while Marc-Andre Fleury saved 12 out of 13 shots he saw. Pittsburgh is having a hard time keeping up with Chicago’s speed in this game and the amount of personnel the Penguins are missing due to injury is very apparent. If the Penguins aren’t careful, they’ll get run out of United Center.
