Blackhawks lose 4-2 to Sharp's Stars
Well, that was ugly.
The Chicago Blackhawks ran out the welcome mat a little too much for Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya and, as it turned out, veteran winger Patrick Eaves on Thursday as Dallas invaded the United Center and waltzed off with a 4-2 victory.
While the team played a video tribute to former Blackhawks Sharp and Oduya in the first period, Eaves put together a personal video highlight reel by recording a hat trick in the same period as Dallas went up 4-0. Eaves, in his second season with Dallas, came in with just 4 goals in 34 games.
"Obviously we weren't ready to play tonight," said Patrick Kane.
The first-place Hawks (36-18-4) are now just 1 point ahead of Dallas (35-15-5) in the Central Division. It was the first time they lost back-to-back games at home this season.
"It was a terrible, brutal, brutal first period," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville.
Said Jonathan Toews: "We get down 4-0, I think we were just kind of in a funk there, and it took us a while to really push ourselves to get out of it. So we started playing with a little confidence in the third and got on the scoresheet, but as you saw, it was a little too late when it comes down to it."
Quenneville put Kane and Toews together with Andrew Shaw for the final 20 minutes and it nearly paid off as the Hawks buzzed the offensive zone and peppered goalie Kari Lehtonen with 21 shots.
Duncan Keith scored 32 seconds into the third, and Kane ripped home his 33rd goal of the season at 7:48 to make it 4-2.
That made things interesting and it nearly got REALLY interesting when Kane (on a power play) and Shaw (with 7:55 left) had point-blank shots turned away by Lehtonen.
"I've seen that a few times," Sharp said of a furious Hawks rally. "Been a part of a few of those. When the 'D' get active and they're hanging on to pucks and making plays, it's tough to withstand.
"But credit our goaltender - he made some big saves to keep that 2-goal lead."
Lehtonen finished with 44 saves.
Artemi Panarin missed a second straight game with an illness that Quenneville said he hoped would not be a long-term concern.
"Anytime you're missing one of your top players, it's going to have an effect on everyone so hopefully he gets better soon," Kane said. Eaves scored twice on the power play, the second coming just four seconds after Teuvo Teravainen tripped Sharp as the former Hawk flew in toward Crawford. That goal came with 16 seconds left in the first period. Eaves became the second player in Stars/North Stars franchise history to record a hat trick in the first period.
Corey Crawford stopped 14 of 18 shots in the first period, and was replaced by Scott Darling (14 saves) for the final 40 minutes.
The Hawks certainly aren't happy with losing two in a row, but also aren't worried about a mini-losing streak in mid-February.
"Obviously the last two we've been in a little bit of a funk so we'll work ourselves out of it like we always do and come back ready to play Saturday (against Anaheim)," Kane said. "We're still in a good position in the standings … so we still have confidence.
"A ton of confidence in this team."
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