Bernier, Perry carry Ducks
Goalie earns his 100th win in the NHL and forward gets his first goal in 11 games.
CHICAGO — Jonathan Bernier was terrific. The rest of the Ducks were good enough.
Bernier made 43 saves for his 100th NHL win, and the Ducks cooled off the Chicago Blackhawks with a 1-0 victory on Thursday.
Corey Perry scored in the second as the Ducks ended the Blackhawks’ sevengame winning streak despite being outshot 43-26. Corey Crawford blocked 25 shots as the Blackhawks lost for only the second time in their last 14 games.
Bernier’s second shutout this season and 14th of his career helped the Ducks move ahead of idle Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division. Bernier made his sixth straight start with John Gibson sidelined by a muscle strain.
“These are the type of games as a goalie, on the road in this type of building against a good team, you need to show up and bring your ‘A’ game,” Bernier said. “I felt really good tonight.”
Perry stopped a 10-game scoring drought with his 12th goal at 17:44. Perry hadn’t connected since scoring twice on Feb. 9 at Buffalo.
“We weathered the storm in the first period and our goalie stood tall,” Perry said. “Got to give him a lot of credit. Sometimes you need him, and we needed him tonight.”
The Blackhawks outscored their opponents 53-29 in their previous 13 games, and they held the Ducks without a shot for more than 18 minutes stretching from the first period until early in the second.
“We were flatter than something on a plate — fill in the blank,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We regrouped. It wasn’t pretty.”
Chicago wasted a chance to overtake Minnesota for the top spot in the Central Division and Western Conference. The Wild lost 4-1 at Tampa Bay.
Despite ample energy, the Blackhawks just couldn’t finish against Bernier.
“I thought we did a lot of things that were pretty sharp out there with our passing and puck movement,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “If we could keep it simpler in some instances and just get pucks at the net with traffic, maybe we would have had a bounce.”
DUCKS TONIGHT
AT ST. LOUIS When: 5 PST. On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 830. Update: Ducks wing Nick Ritchie did not travel because of whiplash suffered Tuesday. Gibson faced shots Thursday but is not expected to play on the trip. The Blues have allowed one or zero goals seven times since Coach Mike Yeo replaced the fired Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1. Goalie Jake Allen has a 1.76 goals-against average since the All-Star break.