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Goals aplenty as Hawks romp over Oilers 7-1

Even for the lowest of low-key guys, Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa had to admit it: going nine games without a goal was starting to get to him.

“I would be lying if I said no,” Hossa said prior to Saturday night's game against Edmonton. “But I'm trying to stay positive and keep smiling and keep working hard because I know eventually the puck will go in.”

The wily veteran was so right about that, and you could just see the relief on his face when he knocked home a rebound goal early in the second period during the Hawks' 7-1 victory. Big Hoss smiled and raised both hands toward the heavens as if to say “thank you.”

That's because the last time he scored a goal came way back in October in Ottawa when he picked up career NHL points 1,000 and 1,001.

Hossa not only tallied his third goal of the season Saturday, but added 3 assists for good measure.

“After nine games without scoring ... it was a relief,” said Hossa who was selected the No. 1 star of the game. “To get that feeling back when you score, it felt great.”

Not that his goal was a turning point in the game — the romp was already on by that time — but getting Hossa off the schneid can be nothing but a good sign for the suddenly-resurgent Blackhawks, who won for the fifth time in their last six games.

“Just a matter of time before Hoss got something going,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “It was nice to see.”

That this was yet another high-scoring blowout in Edmonton came as no surprise to anyone. It's what usually happens when the Hawks come to town.

“I know we've exited here in some games feeling awful; they do play well against us,” Quenneville said. “But we had the great start tonight and that was the difference.”

Jonathan Toews got the Hawks rolling early on when he corraled a pass from Brandon Saad between the circles and easily beat Ben Scrivens just 3:48 in. Less than a minute later, Marcus Kruger went high to beat Scrivens — and the romp was on.

Brent Seabrook's blast late in the first was tipped in by, who else, Toews to make it 3-0 Hawks and made it 3 goals on 8 shots against Scrivens in the opening 20 minutes.

Poor Scrivens.

By the time Kris Versteeg, Hossa and Duncan Keith had scored, it was 6 goals on 15 shots. Scrivens was pulled after allowing 5 of those.

This was also a tough night for Hawks goaltender Antti Raanta, who was scheduled to get his first start since October 25, and had been talking all week about how excited he was.

Unfortunately, Raanta came down with an illness before the game and Corey Crawford had to fill in.

Crawford, as he's been all season, was stellar again, shutting out the Oilers until midway through the third when David Perron lit the lamp.

Patrick Kane added his fourth goal in his last four games to close out the scoring. It was Kane's first four-game goal streak since early in the strike-shortened 2013 season.

• Follow Mike on Twitter @dhspellman

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