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Montreal native Crawford blanks Canadiens

Nov 5, 2014 - 4:04 AM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Corey Crawford stopped all 28 shots he faced in his hometown, Kris Versteeg scored a pair of goals and Chicago dominated Montreal 5-0 on Tuesday night at Bell Centre.

"It's pretty special to win at home. I thought our game was pretty solid and it started with our penalty killers in the first," Crawford noted. "We got tough offensively and we were moving the puck quickly in the offensive zone. We've been struggling lately to get goals."

Jonathan Toews produced a goal and one assist for the Blackhawks, who shook off a shutout loss at home to Winnipeg on Sunday and put an end to a two-game skid.

Patrick Kane and Brad Richards also scored, while Bryan Bickell and David Rundblad produced two assists each as Chicago blanked the Habs in Montreal for the first time since 1999.

Following the game, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said forward Patrick Sharp will be "out for a bit" after leaving the game late with an apparent right leg injury.

Carey Price was on the hook for all five goals on 32 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost a season-high three straight games.

"Despite the loss, I liked our intensity in the first half of the game," said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. "Usually we show a lot more character, but it wasn't there tonight. We now have to focus and remember to play three periods together."

Toews scored his fourth goal in the last six games, tipping in a Duncan Keith point drive on a power play with 8:41 remaining in the first.

Chicago went up 2-0 just before the midway point of the second, when a pass from along the goal line to Price's right by Versteeg hit Habs defenseman Andrei Markov in the side, then Kruger in the face shield before bouncing into the net.

Price prevented a three-goal deficit several shifts later, reaching out with his stick to deflect a wide-open Marian Hossa chance from the left side.

He couldn't corral Richards' tip of a Sharp pass 2:22 into the final period, which provided the Blackhawks with a 3-0 advantage, and looked helpless as Kane cruised through the slot to tap in a Toews feed with just under 7 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

Versteeg's tap-in near the goal line to the right of the Montreal net with Price out of position made it 5-0 as the clock ticked down to five minutes left.

"From the second half of the second period, there was only one team out there," said Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec.

Game Notes

Quebec native Jocelyn Thibault stopped 29 shots in a 1-0 decision for Chicago in Montreal on Oct. 27, 1999 ... Crawford notched his 11th career shutout and improved to 3-0-2 lifetime against the Habs ... ... The Canadiens had won six in a row over the Blackhawks at home since dropping a 3-2 decision on Dec. 3, 2001.