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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks kick-started their league-leading offence by holding on to the puck -- and shutting down New Jersey defensively. Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night. Stephen Gionta and Michael Ryder had goals for the Devils, whose season-high four-game point streak (3-0-1) ended. New Jersey was lucky to get those two scores -- off a failed clearing attempt and a close-in turnover -- as Chicago outshot the Devils 37-12, and controlled the puck and the play. "I thought it was one of our better games all year as far as puck possession, directing plays," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we did everything we were looking to do in the game. I liked their energy, I liked their thought process, our purpose." The Blackhawks spent little time in their zone. With only a couple of exceptions, they moved the puck to their forwards efficiently and left the Devils. Sharp, who recorded his third two-goal game this season, was one of the beneficiaries. "It starts with the defence making great plays in the D-zone," he said. "Weve had great forwards here for a while that want the puck and want to score goals." The 25-year-old Kane has been better offensively this season, his seventh in the NHL. He has points in 12 straight games, matching his career high -- set earlier this season and just before his run. Kane has seven goals and 14 assists in his streak, and at least one point in all but one of his past 25 games, helping him climb into second in the NHL scoring race behind Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby. "If we can play defence like that every night, I think youre going to see more scores like that," he said. Bickells goal was his first since Nov. 10, but he missed 14 of Chicagos 19 games during that span with a knee injury. Chicago rookie Antti Raanta blocked 10 shots in his seventh straight start -- all since Blackhawks top goalie Corey Crawford suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 8. He faced the fewest shots against Chicago in a game this season. New Jerseys Cory Schneider made 32 saves. "Theyre a relentless team," Schneider said. "They dont give up on the puck and theyre always trying to force turnovers. They didnt take their foot off the gas. "We just didnt play at the level we need to play to compete." The Blackhawks outshot the Devils 12-2 in the first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes. Sharp opened the scoring at 12:59 when he snapped off a 40-foot shot from the left boards. New Jersey defenceman Mark Fayne reached toward the puck with his right glove, but deflected it past Schneider. One of the Devils two shots in the period was a dump-in from their own blue line while killing a penalty. Gionta tied it at 1 at 5:37 of the second on a deflection at the doorstep and the Devils fourth shot on goal. Following a failed Chicago clearing attempt on the left boards, Jon Merrill fired from the top of the slot. The puck struck the skate of Blackhawks defenceman Michael Kostka, then ticked in off Giontas stick. Kane put Chicago back ahead 2-1 just over 2 minutes later when he drove to the net and slammed in a rebound of Leddys shot. Schneider made a glove save on Leddys drive from the slot, but it dropped to the ice and Kane plowed over Devils defenceman Marek Zidlicky to score. Bickell made it 3-1 with 7:33 left in the period, connecting on a rising, screened shot from the right circle after taking a feed from Brandon Saad. Ryder swept in a backhand 59 seconds into the third to cut it 3-2 after he picked off a clearing pass by Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook. The Devils managed to come back from a two-goal deficit against Washington on Saturday to win in overtime. The Blackhawks didnt let that happen. "Tonight we gave away way too much space and way too much opportunity to move the puck as well," Ryder said. "Were pretty stingy on defence usually, and tonight we got away from that and tonight it shows on the scoreboard." Set up by Marian Hossas stretch pass, Sharp scored his second goal on a breakaway at 5:54 to extend Chicagos lead to 4-2. He took the feed at centre ice, streaked in alone and fired a low shot under Schneiders glove. Leddys power-play goal, on a drive from the top of the circle with 7:01 left, completed the scoring. Sharp narrowly missed a hat trick, firing the puck off the post with 39 seconds left. NOTES: Crawford has resumed skating and is expected to start practicing after Christmas, according to Quenneville. ... Giontas goal was his second in four games after not scoring in his first 20 games this season. ... Devils RW and leading scorer Jaromir Jagr was held without a point for the first time in seven games. ... New Jersey RW Damien Brunner missed his second game with a lower-body injury and C Andrei Loktionov sat out his second with an illness. ... Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who used to work in the Blackhawks front office, attended the game. Clyde Drexler USA Jersey . -- For one night, Nick Calathes provided a big reason to believe the Memphis Grizzlies might be able to withstand the loss of Mike Conley on a short-term basis. Kyrie Irving USA Jersey . You can, too, Clay Buchholz, if we ignore the sixth inning of Game 2. Doug Fister and Jake Peavy, youre up next in Game 4 and theres a lot to live up to. http://www.teamusaolympicsshop.us/Olympi...rry-Usa-Jersey/. Argentina, who have yet to beat New Zealand in 17 meetings, rocked the All Blacks with an early converted try to backrower Juan Manuel Leguizamon and led 7-0 after five minutes. But Smiths double in the 23rd and 26th minutes - when Argentina was reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of hooker Eusebio Guinazu - turned the tide of the match and set up New Zealands third straight Championship win. James Harden Team USA Jersey . Called on from the college ranks to replace Andy Reid, Kelly implemented a whole new atmosphere in the City of Brotherly Love and now has the Eagles in the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Paul George USA Jersey . This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Its an "Ace" of a day here in South New Jersey and Im in a very happy mood. I recorded my first ever hole-in–one this morning on the par 3, 135 yard fourth hole at the Atlantic City Country Club with an eight iron into a stiff wind and drizzle off the Bay. As they say, even a blind squirrel (or ref) can find a nut once in a while! Enjoy the games tonight. - Kerry Hi Kerry, In seemingly all of his games since the playoffs have started, Brad Marchand has had a talking to by the referee for stick work after the whistle. The commentators keep referring to Marchand getting "a warning." But if this is happening every game, shouldnt these warnings turn into penalties at some point? Does the league allow or encourage officials to pass this type of information on from one game to the next? Thanks,JonathanToronto, ON Jonathan: NHL officials do share information with one another. The fastest lines of communication are the telephone, telegraph and tell a ref! The series supervisor updates each new crew at a game-day noon meeting as to what has taken place in previous games. There are no surprises; especially when it comes to certain hotspots the officials need to be aware of involving players from both teams. The referees want to do their very best to allow the players to play on the edge while maintaining an element of control; especially in a game seven. With regard to game control, the intelligent official will communicate with players and coaches when he deems it necessary to bring their negative emotions down a notch. I often noticed that player aggression could escalate during a shift or subsequent shifts. It was almost like a snowball rolling down a hill that gathered momentum. It was almost predictable as a player became less disciplined and likely to commit an infraction resulting in a penalty call. Im not referring to some spontaneous retaliation or foul but a tendency that players demonstrated to lose their discipline through a series of ragged play. Scrums and confrontations after the whistle are the most opportune time for player hostilities and paybacks to escalate. Scrums take the focus away from playing the game to instead administering punishment or getting even. When that occurs the refs have to take measures to get players refocused; usually with the fear that a penalty will be called to re-establish acceptable guidelines. The most successful refs are the one that get the players to play on their terms without having to continually lay the hhammer down! The entertainment value of the game is maximized whenever that takes place.dddddddddddd There comes a point though when the communication efforts have no effect and the refs arm must go up to call a penalty. I just dont want to single out Brad Marchand of the Bruins. Brendan Gallagher of the Habs is another pesky little guy that can really stir things up. Both are emotional players that bring plenty of energy to their game and can draw a crowd. Whether it is going hard to the net and making contact with the goalkeeper or initiating contact after the whistle in an effort to draw a foul, both players have earned the right to be on the refs radar screen. Officials develop a working relationship with all players. Throughout that relationship building process a player has to clearly know when a referee means business; when he has had enough and the hammer is about to fall! Speaking from personal experience, players didnt often mistake my piercing look and terse body language or tone for knowing when it was time to back off and take their foot off the gas pedal. When I issued a "warning" to a player I often told him I could be his best advocate or his worst friggin nightmare - the choice was his? A referee can also solicit the assistance of a respected team leader or captain that he has a good relationship with to get his teammate under control before the ref is forced to take action. I often used the coach in this capacity to instill some discipline in one of his players. When I had enough of the scrums (which was very quickly) I went to each coach and told them I had enough and was going to penalize one player only in a scrum. Since it might just be their player I asked them to take control before I was forced to put his team down a man! They usually cooperated; if not it only took one such penalty for them to understand I meant business. What the referees are attempting to do with a player like Brad Marchand is to establish some self-discipline through an element of reason. Reminding the player that taking a penalty will put his team in the hole can be one way to do that as I have described above. It is important for the ref to choose his words wisely and not "threaten" the player with, "If you do that one more time" routine. Game 7 is not the time for any player to test the referees resolve; nor is it the time for the referees to lay the hammer down without some fair warning. I think the message has been delivered and the pests will play their typical game but just on the edge. Talk is often cheap but everything is on the line for both teams tonight! 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