Florida had a great chance with four minutes gone when Kris Versteeg skated through the entire team into the Chicago zone, finding Weiss in front of the net. Weiss couldn’t put it home, but the rebound skittered off to Ray Emery’s right. When Tomas Fleischmann tried to put it away, he was tripped by Johnathan Toews for an obvious penalty.
On the resultant power play, Jason Garrison provided the only real threat with a slap shot from the blue line which was turned aside by Emery. The Blackhawks kept the Panthers honest, clearing the puck three times on the man advantage.
Seven minutes into the period, the Panther gifted Chicago with another power play when Jack Skille was called for hooking Viktor Stalberg.
Florida was great on their fourth penalty kill of the night, generating a shorthanded chance and clearing out the puck several times.
With seven minutes left in the period, the Blackhawks extended their lead to three goals as Patrick Kane scored his 11th goal of the season on a 2-on-1 breakout.
Hits: Panthers, 24-15
Blocked Shots: Panthers, 10-4
Faceoffs: Blackhawks, 20-18
Shots on Goal: Blackhawks, 18-15
Score: Blackhawks 3, Panthers 0