Hawks hold on after letting Stars back in it
For two days the Blackhawks talked about how they needed to step up as a team with Patrick Kane joining Marian Hossa on the injured list.
The Hawks backed up their words for the most part Wednesday night, holding on for a 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars at the United Center.
The Hawks were impressive for the first 36 minutes of the game before a lapse late in the second turned a 4-1 lead into a 4-3 nailbiter.
The Stars got 2 late goals in the second after the Hawks failed miserably on two power plays.
“Our power play wasn't very good, and I thought we lost a lot of the momentum of the game when we had those two power plays in the second period,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think we got outshot on one and didn't generate anything on the next one.
“You've got to take advantage of that situation. It would have been nice to distance ourselves and all of a sudden it was a real hockey game.”
Quenneville called a timeout after the 2 goals and let his team have it on the bench.
“We've done that far too many times this year with letting teams back in the game,” Patrick Sharp said. “I think our power play, I don't want to say blew it, but I'll say, we blew it in the second period with a few opportunities where we could have put a 5-1 lead on the scoreboard.”
The Hawks might have caught a break in the final 10 seconds when clinging to a 1-goal lead, as defenseman Brent Seabrook appeared to throw his stick at Trevor Daley while falling to the ice just as the Dallas defenseman was breaking free for a shot.
“I was sort of flat-footed and caught an edge and the stick just came out when I hit the ice,” Seabrook said. “It could have been a penalty and been a tough one.”
Stars coach Marc Crawford confronted referees Dave Jackson and Dean Morton in the hallway after the game about the Seabrook play and a 6-1 deficit in power plays and there was a heated verbal exchange.
“You can't miss a call like that at the end of the game,” Crawford fumed. “There is no excuse. A guy throws his stick; it's a penalty shot in every sense of the word. One referee is looking right at it and he missed it.
“They've given us 5 penalties maybe 6 in the game and they miss a call that's a clear penalty shot. How do guys miss that because that is the easier call in the book to make.
“When a guy throws a stick it's an automatic penalty shot. That's' the call. Everybody in the crowd saw it, everybody in the broadcast saw it, everybody on the benches saw it, but the people who are important didn't see it.”
The Hawks got secondary scoring from Bryan Bickell, Jeremy Morin and Troy Brouwer, while Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp chipped in goals.
Morin's goal was his first in the NHL and gave the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
The line of Dave Bolland, Bickell and Brouwer combined for 2 goals and 3 assists.
<P>Tim Sassone's game tracker</P>
<P>Blackhawks 5, Stars 3</P>
<P>Three stars:</P>
<P>1. Bryan Bickell, Hawks: A goal and an assist with 5 hits.</P>
<P>2. Dave Bolland, Hawks: Plus-2 with 2 assists in 20 minutes of ice time.</P>
<P>3. Brad Richards, Stars: Two assists in a losing effort.</P>
<P>Seventh heaven:</P>
<P>Hawks goalie Corey Crawford ran his personal winning streak to seven games with a 28-save performance. He stopped 13 of 13 shots in the third period with the Hawks clinging to a 1-goal lead.</P>