Blackhawks 4, Islanders 1: Captain Jonathan Toews collected two goals and two assists and Marian Hossa tallied twice as host Chicago breezed to its third straight victory.

Patrick Sharp notched two assists after being elevated to the top line for the Blackhawks, who improved to 7-1-1 in their last nine contests. Corey Crawford finished with 38 saves as Chicago remained five points behind first-place St. Louis in the Central Division.

Nikolay Kulemin scored in the third period for the Islanders, who have mustered four goals while dropping a season-high four in a row. Captain John Tavares, who leads the league with 72 points, was held off the scoresheet for the fourth straight game and finished with a minus-4 rating.

Defenseman Duncan Keith's blast sailed wide of the net but Toews backhanded a shot from below the goal line in the right corner that squirted inside the near post to open the scoring 7:01 into the first period. Toews struck again nine minutes later, going to his backhand off a rush to beat Michal Neuvirth (26 saves) for his 23rd goal.

Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook caught New York in an ill-advised line change and wired a stretch pass to Toews, who quickly set up Hossa for a one-timer from the right circle at 13:55 of the second. Sharp's centering feed caromed off Hossa's skate and into the net 57 seconds into the third to push the Blackhawks' lead to 4-0 before Kulemin converted in the slot 4 1/2 minutes later.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago C Andrew Shaw was given a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct after he head-butted New York C Brock Nelson at 5:30 of the second period. ... Islanders G Jaroslav Halak is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and didn't accompany the team on the trip. New York recalled Kevin Poulin from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League prior to the game. ... The Islanders' Nick Leddy missed his fourth straight contest and did not face his former team due to an upper-body injury while fellow D Lubomir Visnovsky also sat out with a lower-body ailment.