Spellman: Blackhawks home - and still red-hot

With the way things have been going lately, you knew it was only a matter of time before the usual suspects kicked it in for the Blackhawks on Wednesday night at the United Center.

And when they did, a 1-1 tie with St. Louis turned into a 4-1 laugher during a six-minute span opening the third period.

It was the Hawks' fourth straight victory, their seventh in eight games, and it moved them within 1 point of Central Division leaders Nashville and St. Louis.

"It was a great third period for us," coach Joel Quenneville said. "That line scored some big goals over that trip and a couple big ones here tonight as well."

The Hawks' usual suspects Wednesday were none other than the red-hot Kris Versteeg and Patrick Kane.

Kane scored twice and Versteeg had a season-high 3 points to up his totals to 21 points in 21 games. Oh, and center Brad Richards added an assist for a line that has simply been unstoppable of late.

"We've played with each other seven or eight games now, and every game is a new chance to get some more chemistry and figure out some more about our linemates," Kane said.

"I think there are still things that we don't know about each other that can maybe develop, but right now it's clicking well and we want to make sure it continues like that."

Versteeg, who was named the game's No. 1 star, put the Hawks ahead for good when he took a feed between the circles from Jonathan Toews and blasted one past Jake Allen for his eighth goal of the season just 59 seconds into the third.

Less than two minutes later, it was Versteeg connecting with Kane, who beat Allen from the right circle to make it 3-1.

"He's playing the way we've envisioned him playing," Quenneville said of Versteeg, who struggled last season after returning from a knee injury.

Kane closed out the show with an unassisted goal - his 12th of the season - a beauty in which he somehow found an opening and beat a sprawling Allen to put things out of reach.

"It's big when you go in tied up and you can score real early like that," said Kane, who leads the team with 12 goals and 25 points. "Then, all of a sudden they're pressing and maybe things open up a little bit more to create some more offense."

That turned out to be exactly the case for the Blues, who liked where they were entering the final 20 minutes.

"The game is 1-1, you're in perfect position on the road, and we just gave it to them," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We just gave them the hockey game. Bottom line."

Antti Raanta, starting for the first time since Oct. 25, stopped 40 of the 41 shots he faced to pick up his second win of the season.

"It was a tough battle even though we got 3 goals in the third, they were still coming," Raanta said. "It was a really good feeling out there for me."

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