Crawford, Blackhawks Play Stingy Defense, NHL Roundup

Corey Crawford and the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks can play some stingy defense, too. Crawford made 26 saves in his NHL-leading sixth shutout this season to lead the Blackhawks past the Ottawa Senators 3-0 on Sunday night for their third straight win.

Duncan Keith and Artem Anisimov scored for Chicago, which got an empty-net goal from Andrew Desjardins with 48 seconds left.

Crawford wasn't challenged consistently, but he was sharp when needed in earning his 18th career shutout in his 300th game.

"He was solid," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "He wasn't tested early, but sporadically they came at him. Certainly, he's been doing a good job for us."

The skaters in front of Crawford stifled the Senators for much of the night, too. Loaded with skill on offense, the Blackhawks blocked 24 shots and got a little lucky as Ottawa fired wide 15 times -- including a couple of strikes off the post and crossbar.

"That was important, to keep the puck away from those guys, get puck possession, because (the Senators) are a pretty fast and skilled team, good on the rush," Crawford said. "It was just a solid win for us at home."

Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots, but the Senators lost their third straight and fifth in their last six. Ottawa also was blanked for the second straight game, following a 3-0 loss at home to New Jersey on Wednesday.

"If we play the 60 minutes the right way and you get 12-14 chances like we did tonight, there's not going to be many nights when guys aren't finding a way to put one in," Senators forward Bobby Ryan said. "We've got to find a way out of the funk."

The Blackhawks, who have won six of eight, avenged a 4-3 overtime loss at Ottawa on Dec. 3.

Sunday, January 3 Scoreboard

NY Islanders 6, Dallas 5

Florida 2, Minnesota 1

Chicago 3, Ottawa 0

Anaheim 4, Winnipeg 1

Monday, January 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at New Jersey, 6 p.m.

Ottawa at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Carolina at Edmonto, 8 p.m.

Arizona at Vancouver, 9 p.m.