McElhinney takes the reins in 4-2 win over Tampa 2019-03-08 Curtis McElhinney was a sought-after commodity in last offseason's unrestricted free agency period. One of the reasons he chose Chicago over other potential suitors was their commitment to a winning culture. Now, he's directly leading that culture. McElhinney put in yet another solid performance in Chicago's 4-2 victory over the top-ranked Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at United Center. He stopped 28 shots, and the two goals he allowed came over the course of eight power plays. In other words, he was flawless when the team wasn't short-handed. This isn't an outlier for the 35-year old veteran netminder. In 15 starts this season, McElhinney is 10-5-0 with a 1.94 goals-against average (tops in the EHE) and a .927 save percentage. Only one other has a better SP among goaltenders with at least 15 starts (Carolina's John Gibson at .929). "It's good to contribute," said the stoic McElhinney. "We did some good things tonight against a very good team." McElhinney has helped correct what had been a bad homestand for the Blackhawks. Fortunate to have an eight-game stretch in the friendly confines of United Center, the Hawks had lost three straight (with one in overtime) before Tuesday's 7-3 win over the New York Islanders. With a win on Saturday night against the white hot Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago would be 5-2-1 in those eight contests. "We needed a big defensive performance from our team tonight and that's just what we got," said Blackhawks coach Gerald Gallant. "The offensive consistency is good to see, and we definitely need to be more disciplined with taking that many penalties, especially against a great team like Tampa. Our defensive play won us the game tonight, no doubt." When asked if McElhinney would make his third straight start on Saturday night, Gallant was unusually elaborate on his response. "We're going to go with who is winning games. Simple as that. Curtis has played very well over a good enough sample of games to warrant staying in that spot. I don't think we thought this rotation would turn out like this, but it is what it is. Tuukka (Rask) has been good for us, and we need to find a way to play as well as we do in front of Curtis in front of him. But right now we need to win hockey games, and we're winning with Curtis in net." HAWK NOTES Erik Haula is on fire. The 27-year old center/winger has three goals and three assists over the past two games on a new line with Jordan Staal and Reilly Smith...Speaking of hot, newcomer defensemen Justin Braun (2-8-10, +2 in 13 games) and Dmitry Orlov (1-6-7, +4 in 8 games) along with winger Patrick Maroon (3-7-10, +7 in 13 games) have been heating things up for Chicago...Andrew Cogliano has matched his 2017-18 production (30 points) in just 47 games with the Blackhawks. The 31-year old winger has 13 goals and 17 assists with a +15 rating this season...The Hawks have been a collective +133 in terms of overall player plus/minus rating, good for fourth in the EHE. Fellow Central Division foe Minnesota leads with a +219 rating, with Tampa Bay (+137), Washington (+136), and Detroit (+104) in the top five. The bottom five? Florida (-87), Anaheim (-114), the Islanders (-160), Montreal (-186), and New Jersey (-240).