Lankinen, Blackhawks beat Panthers 3-0 for 2nd straight win

<p>CHICAGO &mdash; Kevin Lankinen made 41 saves in his second career shutout, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the short-handed Florida Panthers 3-0 on Thursday night.</p>
<p>Patrick Kane and Brandon Hagel each had a goal and an assist as Chicago earned its second straight victory against Florida after dropping their first four meetings this season. Pius Suter also scored.</p>
<p>Led by Lankinen, the Blackhawks killed off each of the Panthers’ six power plays. The rookie goaltender also denied Jonathan Huberdeau on a rare 3-on-0 break with about three minutes left in the second period.</p>
<p>Lankinen also played a key in role in Chicago’s 3-2 victory over Florida on Tuesday night, finishing with 33 stops.</p>
<p>The Panthers played without captain Aleksander Barkov for the second consecutive game, and fellow forward Patric Hornqvist departed in the third period after he was leveled by a huge hit from Blackhawks defenseman Nikita Zadorov.</p>
<p>Barkov is dealing with a lower-body injury, but coach Joel Quenneville said he was feeling much better and could return this weekend in Dallas.</p>
<p>Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for Florida, which has lost a season-high three in a row.</p>
<p>Chicago went ahead to stay on Kane’s power-play goal 1:05 into the second period. With Bobrovsky down on the ice after a scramble in front, Kane skated in and flipped the puck into the net for his 13th of the season.</p>
<p>Suter then made it 2-0 with his 10th at 3:34. Kane set up Alex DeBrincat for a good look from the left circle that was denied by Bobrovsky. The rebound went right to a streaking Suter, who knocked it into the open net.</p>
<p>With the Panthers pushing hard to get on the board in the third, Hagel helped close it out with a long empty-netter with 1:24 left.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Panthers: Visit the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Blackhawks: Host the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.</p>
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<p>Jay Cohen can be reached at <a href="https://twitter.com/jcohenap">https://twitter.com/jcohenap</a></p>
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