NHL: Chicago 3, Nashville 0

NASHVILLE, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Corey Crawford made 31 saves Thursday to record his third shutout of the season and bring Chicago a 3-0 victory over Nashville.

Crawford had appeared in just eight games over three seasons for the Blackhawks prior to the current campaign and he improved his record to 21-12.

Chicago celebrated the return to the bench of Coach Joel Quenneville, who had missed four games due to a bleeding ulcer.

Tomas Kopecky gave Chicago the lead on a slap shot with 2:48 to go in the first period and it remained a 1-0 game until Marian Hossa scored 2:35 into the third.

Patrick Sharp added an empty-net goal with 31 seconds to play.

Chicago has won three in a row and four out of five. Pekka Rinne stopped 24 shots for Nashville, which has lost three straight.