Panarin's faceoff style a hit with Quenneville
Zero.
That's how many faceoffs Artemi Panarin took this season before Game 3 of the Chicago Blackhawks' first-round playoff series with St. Louis.
That's no surprise, of course, since it's center Artem Anisimov's job to win the draws. Once in a while, though, a center gets thrown out of the faceoff circle and a winger must step in.
All year that winger was Patrick Kane. But Sunday Panarin found himself at the faceoff dot against St. Louis' Paul Stastny with 19:00 remaining in the second period.
Instead of trying to beat Stastny with the traditional bang-the-puck-back-to-his-teammates method, Panarin actually bull-rushed forward and smacked the puck to the end boards. From there, he won a battle with Colton Parayko, fed the puck to Anisimov, and Anisimov sent a fluttering shot past Brian Elliott to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.
"Anisimov told me to do it like that," Panarin said.
"I loved the thought process and we may have to utilize him more," coach Joel Quenneville said. "With how many faceoffs we (lost in Game 3), that was a pretty smart play."
Parayko said he wasn't "overly surprised" by Panarin's move, but the rookie defenseman did take the blame for allowing Panarin to take over the puck.
"I exposed the puck on my forehand, and he's a quick player," Parayko said. "Took advantage of it. Kudos to him for making a great play."
Back in:
After sitting out Sunday's 3-2 loss to St. Louis, Blackhawks winger Andrew Desjardins returned to the lineup Tuesday night for Game 4 at the United Center.
"Expectations are high for myself (and) … the coaches expect a little bit more," Desjardins said. "That's all I'm taking for it. … A little bit more swagger, a little more attitude, a little bit more grit. Just all around better."
Desjardins was back on the fourth line with Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw. Coach Joel Quenneville has used the healthy scratch before with Desjardins in an attempt to light a fire under the hard-nosed winger. Desjardins sat out Games 1 and 2 against Nashville in the opening round last year, then didn't miss another game as the Hawks went on to claim the title.
"You want to show not just your coach, but your teammates that you're ready to go again," Desjardins said. "You reset and you're eager to do what you can to help the team. … There's that accountability to step up and be better."
He said it:
"Our mothers named us Andrew."
- Andrew Shaw after a reporter began a question to Andrew Ladd, "Andy …"