CHICAGO — Charlie Coyle had his second career hat trick, Mathieu Olivier added a goal and an assist and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday night.<\/p>\n
The win was Columbus\u2019 fourth straight and eighth in the last nine games (8-0-1). The Blackhawks lost in regulation for the third time in five games (0-3-2).<\/p>\n
Coyle set up Olivier\u2019s goal, the eventual winner, for his third point of the game. It gave the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead 6:47 into the second period.<\/p>\n
Coyle, with five goals and nine points in his last three games, finished off his second career three-goal effort with an empty-netter with 1:03 left. He scored Columbus\u2019 first two goals, beating Spencer Knight from the doorstep on a power play with 47 seconds left in the first period, and on a hard wrist shot over Knight\u2019s glove 1:23 into the second.<\/p>\n
In between, Connor Bedard whistled a wrist shot past Elvis Merzlikins with 2.7 seconds left in the first. Bedard set up Chicago\u2019s other goal, matched with a perfect feed to Frank Nazar on a 3-on-2 break four minutes after Olivier\u2019s goal. Nazar beat Merzlikins from 25 feet.<\/p>\n
Merzlikins stopped 22 shots, and Knight made 22 saves.<\/p>\n
Columbus blanked the Blackhawks on their two power-play chances, running their string of futility to 26 man-advantages and 10 games without a goal. Chicago\u2019s last power-play goal was in Nashville on Jan. 10.<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks called up defenseman Sam Rinzel from Rockford before the game, benching defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who was a minus-5 in Thursday\u2019s 6-2 loss at Pittsburgh and is minus-11 in his last eight games.<\/p>\n
Blue Jackets: At St. Louis on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Blackhawks: Host San Jose on Monday.<\/p>\n
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