Brouwer breathes easier after scoring

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Maybe going home and playing in front of his dad was what Troy Brouwer needed to get his season turned in the right direction.

With Dan Brouwer watching his son play in person Saturday for the first time since suffering a brain aneurysm on April 4, Brouwer scored a goal on a nice power move to the net in the Blackhawks' 7-1 rout of the Canucks.

“My dad was looking forward to this game for quite a while,” Brouwer said. “He talked about it like it was a Christmas present so I was glad I could get a goal for him.”

Brouwer flew around defenseman Christian Ehrhoff in the second period to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead.

“I think that was the fastest I've moved in my life,” Brouwer joked. “The coaches have wanted me to take the puck to the net hard for a while so I figures I might as well.”

Brouwer has 2 goals in the last two games. He also scored in the waning seconds of Friday's 7-2 loss at Calgary.

Brouwer had 1 goal in 21 games before Friday.

“There was nothing very positive coming out of that game (Friday) night, but you score there and maybe you get a little more comfortable,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It's something we've talked about, taking the puck hard to the net, showing good patience, going to the tight areas with a nice finish.”

Good enough:

The Hawks were just 1-for-8 on the power play in Saturday's win, but they had good zone time on nearly every one of their chances.

“Our power play could have been better, but sometimes you gain momentum by just keeping the puck in the zone and getting shots,” Patrick Kane said.

Kane had a goal and 2 assists, putting him past 250 points for his career. He became the second youngest Hawk to reach 250 points after Denis Savard.

Vegas baby:

Joel Quenneville admitted the side trip to Las Vegas the Hawks are making through today might not have looked like such a good decision if they had lost on Saturday as well.

“That's what I said before the game that it wouldn't have been a good day to go to Vegas after (Friday) night's game,” Quenneville said. “It was good timing.”