Panarin, Hossa and Crawford lead Blackhawks to victory
It's official - Marian Hossa has found the Fountain of Youth.
One year after suffering through a miserable season in which reporters constantly barraged the future Hall of Famer with "isn't about time you retire" type questions, Hossa has turned back the clock and looks as sleek, fast and savvy as any 18-, 21- or 25-year old in the entire league.
He kept up his renaissance Friday night at the United Center by scoring his 26th goal in a 3-1 Blackhawks victory that was the franchise's 50th of the season. Artemi Panarin scored the other 2 goals, Corey Crawford made 32 saves and the Hawks all but wrapped up home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs by going 9 points ahead of idle Minnesota.
"Hossa's one of those guys that has scored some big goals early on, he's scoring some big goals lately," said coach Joel Quenneville. "You know that the best part of his game is the little things he does. Consummate pro and makes guys around him better.
"Great for our young guys who watch him prepare and play, and play the right way with and without the puck."
Patrick Kane assisted on all 3 Hawks tallies. He has 87 points, 4 shy of league leader Connor McDavid.
Panarin scored just 32 seconds into the game and four seconds after Brandon Dubinsky was whistled for cross-checking.
Nick Foligno tied it at 1-1 at 17:15 of the first period, but Hossa restored the Hawks' lead just 22 seconds later after he took a pass from Kane and proceeded to beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a gorgeous back-and-forth move right in front of the net.
"Those answering goals are great for momentum, especially (as we) come towards the playoffs. It's going to be huge," said Hossa, whose goal total is exactly double last season's.
Panarin made it 3-1 with his 28th on the season, an empty-netter with 54 seconds remaining.
Crawford has allowed 1 goal in back-to-back games, making 63 saves in the process.
This wasn't the prettiest of games from an offensive standpoint, but the Hawks' penalty-killing unit did a heckuva job by not allowing Columbus to cash in on 4 power-play opportunities. The Blue Jackets are now 0-for-17 on the power play in their last nine games.
One scary moment came when Niklas Hjalmarsson crumpled to the ice after blocking a shot in the second period, but the Hawks' D-man returned after missing just one shift.
"You always like to keep your fingers crossed when something like that happens," Hossa said. "But Hammer just jumped out, and after a couple seconds he was back to normal."
The Hawks (107 points) passed the Blue Jackets (106) in the overall NHL standings, meaning if the playoffs started today, they would have home-ice advantage over every team except Washington.
"It's obviously nice to start thinking about having home ice throughout the Western Conference finals," said Kane, who has 27 points in the last 18 games. "We feel we have a team in here that can make a deep run and we love playing here in this building."