Physical Jets take it to Hawks, win 4-2

For the past few days, the one thing Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville couldn't emphasize enough was just how important it was that Winnipeg didn't come into town Friday night and take its third straight game at the United Center this season.

Not only wouldn't it be good for the Hawks to have a team come in and dominate them like that, but think of the confidence boost it would be for the upstart Jets.

After a couple of days off followed by a pair of spirited practices — combined with the fact the Jets were coming into town for their sixth game in nine days — things looked to be setting up perfectly for the Hawks to get some revenge,

Think again.

In a physical, fast-paced game that resembled anything but a mid-January contest, the two teams battled toe-to-toe for two periods before the never-say-die Jets pulled away in the end for a 4-2 victory to complete their Chicago trifecta.

“This was as good a character win as we've had since I've been here,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “It's not a tough schedule, it's a brutal schedule. Six games in nine nights from the West Coast, back to Winnipeg, down to Dallas.

“They did all of the things that they've been doing all year. I just, I don't know that I could rightly think that it was coming tonight.”

And if they hadn't already earned the Hawks' respect after the first 2 wins, the Jets certainly got it after their third straight at the UC.

“That's a good hockey team,” Quenneville said. “We don't give anybody anything, but they certainly earned it.

“They're a different team than we saw last year. They can win anywhere and they can beat anybody because they work their tails off.”

And the Hawks certainly felt the effects afterward.

“That felt like a playoff game,” said Bryan Bickell, who along with Brent Seabrook, picked up a fighting major in a wild first period. “The crowd was behind us but we just fell short.

“They've got our number.”

It looked like things might go better for the Hawks this time around when they burst out of the gate early and took a 1-0 lead just 53 seconds in on Brandon Saad's 13th goal of the season.

It was 1-1 heading into the third period before goals by Bryan Little (power play) and Chris Thorburn just 30 seconds apart silenced the UC crowd.

But the Hawks didn't give up, cutting the lead to just 1 when Teuvo Teravainen notched his first career NHL goal at the 12:43 mark.

The Jets added a late empty-netter to seal the deal.

“We're not playing good enough against these guys,” Seabrook said. “It was a pretty even game for the first 41 or 42 minutes, and then ... ”