Blackhawks win, but with heavy hearts
Playing with the heaviest of hearts due to the unexpected passing of beloved assistant equipment manager Clint Reif earlier in the day, the Blackhawks rallied like only family can to top Toronto 4-0 Sunday at the United Center.
In a sullen locker room afterward, the team's 14th win in 17 games was the last thing on any of the players' minds.
"I think you're more in shock than anything all day long," said Patrick Sharp, who finished with 3 assists on Sunday. "We had a mini-ceremony (before the game) as a family - put a little extra pressure on ourselves."
And it paid off, because despite the overwhelming sadness permeating the organization, the Hawks were still able to win this one for Reif, who was in his ninth year with the team,
"It was very quiet on the bench, very quiet in the locker room," Sharp said. "We wanted to make sure we had a good game for Clint and his family."
Sharp choked up and excused himself after starting to answer a question about what it was that made Reif such a special person - illustrating just how deep the bond was between the 34-year-old and the players and staff.
"I commend the guys - very emotional, draining day," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "To come up and play such a solid game from Antti (Raanta) right on out ... commend the guys. Real challenging day."
Patrick Kane continued his sizzling play with 1 goal and 2 assists playing alongside Sharp and Kris Versteeg (goal) who centered the trio.
"That whole line ... you could talk about each one of those guys," Quenneville said. "That line - for not playing together - was really fun to watch."
David Rundblad opened the scoring with a blast from the blue line late in the first period. It was the young defenseman's first goal of the season.
"I thought he played excellent - big goal for us," Quenneville said. "I think that was his best game."
Jonathan Toews' 13th of the year finished off the scoring and Raanta (31 save) stopped everything that came his way to pick up his second shutout of the season.
"Antti was playing really well - he stepped up," Toews said.
Raanta wasn't the only one on this tough night.
"We're still in disbelief," Toews admitted. "The fact that we went out there and played the way we did when we dedicated it to our good friend Clint.
"Proud that we got the win tonight."