Quenneville wins No. 783, Blackhawks beat Canadiens 2-1
MONTREAL (AP) — Jonathan Toews scored, Corey Crawford made 39 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to nine games and move Joel Quenneville into sole possession of second place in career coaching victories.
Quenneville has 783 wins, one more than Al Arbour but still well behind leader Scotty Bowman's 1,244.
The Blackhawks haven't lost since Dec. 27 against Carolina and will try to make it 10 straight Friday night in Toronto. Ryan Garbutt also scored in the first period.
Paul Byron scored but Montreal fell to 5-14 since Dec. 1 despite a spirited effort against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Shots were 40-33 in favor of the Canadiens and both Crawford and Montreal's Mike Condon had strong performances in net.
Crawford, from nearby Chateauguay, Quebec, is 4-0-2 in six career meetings with the Canadiens.
His biggest test came in the second period when he made four saves in rapid succession during a hectic sequence.
The Blackhawks were first on nearly every puck to open the game and scored 8:26 in when Andrew Shaw got past P.K. Subban and fed the puck across the front of the net for Toews to bang in his 17th of the season.
Byron tied it at 10:36 when he went to the net and tipped David Desharnais' feed past Crawford.
Chicago's fourth line had Montreal stuck in its zone for a long stretch before Garbutt beat Condon from the left circle at 12:56.
NOTES: Montreal had defenseman Jeff Petry back after missing a game with a lower-body injury. ... Chicago center Artem Anisimov flew in on time to be in the lineup after missing a game with an illness. ... The Blackhawks play at the Maple Leafs on Friday night. ... The Canadiens play at St. Louis on Saturday night.