Hossa's 2 goals help Hawks to 3-1 victory

Bringing up worries during the Blackhawks' run of late, a run that included wins in five straight and 10 of their last 12 heading into their showdown in Nashville on Saturday, almost seems like nitpicking.

But if you dug deep enough, maybe one of those concerns might be - might be - that Marian Hossa has been struggling big-time in the goal-scoring department.

But with the way the team's been rolling, and knowing Big Hoss is still Big Hoss, it certainly wasn't an end-of-the-world type thing.

Still, it had to feel good to see Hossa, who had just one goal in his last 16 games, get off the schneid with a pair of goals Saturday - including the game-winner - to propel the Hawks to a 3-1 victory.

The Hawks, who came into Nashville looking up at the Preds in the standings, returned home all alone atop the Central Division courtesy of their sixth straight win.

Brandon Saad, who closed out the scoring Friday night at the United Center, opened it Saturday with his sixth of the season late in the first period.

Saad also assisted on Hossa's game-winner early in the second period.

Hossa tallied an empty-netter to seal the verdict.

Lemont native Scott Darling stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced to pick up his third win of the season.