‘Hawks goalie Fleury notches 1st shutout of season in win over Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 40 shots in his first shutout of the season and the Chicago Blackhawks blanked the Vancouver Canucks 1-0 on Sunday night.

Brandon Hagel scored the game’s lone goal with a third-period tip-in, while Fleury earned his 68th career shutout and improved his recent record against Vancouver to 13-0-2.

Thatcher Demko stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Canucks, who controlled play by much of the first two periods but stuttered in the third, giving up an early goal and struggling to generate offense.

The Canucks got a late chance after Chicago’s Jake McCabe was called for interference on Tanner Pearson with just over two minutes left on the clock.

Vancouver peppered Fleury of shots and poured on the pressure with just 90 seconds to go, pulling Demko in favor of an additional attacker, but Fleury made six saves to kill off the penalty. The Canucks were 0 for 3 on the man advantage Sunday.

Hagel finally broke the scoreless deadlock 4:12 into the third, tipping in a long shot from Erik Gustafsson for his fifth goal of the season.

Vancouver dominated play by much of the first two periods, outshooting the visitors 30-13. It also killed off three penalties — scarce, considering the Canucks came into the game with the NHL’s worst penalty kill at 60.3%.

NOTES: It was the second time the two sides met this season after Vancouver took a 4-1 decision in Chicago on Oct. 21. … Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones saw his eight-game point streak come to an end. He had two goals and six assists across the stretch. … The Canucks haven’t won consecutive games since Oct. 23.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: At Calgary on Tuesday.

Canucks: At Pittsburgh on Wednesday to start a four-game trip.