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Breaking through: Versatile Suter nets hat trick in Blackhawks' victory over Detroit

One thing that became abundantly clear while watching Pius Suter during training camp is that the rookie forward has no qualms with rubbing elbows, shoulders and sticks in front of the opposing goaltender.

It's a trait that helped him rack up a whopping 30 goals in the Swiss-A league last season and earned him a one-year contract with the Blackhawks last July.

The Hawks reaped their first serious dividends from the 24-year-old Sunday as Suter scored his first 3 NHL goals during a 6-2 victory over Detroit at the United Center. Connor Murphy, Mattias Janmark and Philipp Kurashev also scored for the Hawks, who are 2-3-1 after sweeping the Red Wings in the two-game series.

Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves in net.

Suter became the first Hawk to score his first 3 goals in a game since Bill Kendall in 1933.

"It was a very strong game for him," said coach Jeremy Colliton, who is using Suter at center with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat on the wings. "Even the last couple games, the production hasn't always been there, (but) he makes a lot of small decisions that ... protect his linemates, protect his teammates. Great to see him break through offensively."

Suter's first 2 goals came in a five-minute span in the first period to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. His third came with 7:32 remaining when he buried a wrist shot from 30 feet away while on a 2-on-1 rush with Kane.

"I love that he was willing to shoot on that," Colliton said. "A lot of guys are just looking to give it to Kaner. And it was a really good sign that he continues to be a guy to want to make a play himself."

Said Suter: "It was a great feeling. It was fun. Gave me some confidence, too. It's a good start (to) something."

Suter opened the scoring by knocking in a rebound of a Calvin de Haan shot at 4:42 of the first period. Then, at 9:44, he slammed in a pass from Janmark after the Hawks did a masterful job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone while on the power play.

Both shots came right in front of the net and were reminicient of more than a few goals he has scored at Fifth Third Arena during practice.

Suter, just 5-feet-10, 175 pounds, told us afterward he's never been shy about sticking his nose in the dirty areas.

"It's been always part of my game," he said. "When I went there I always scored a bit, so I just kept doing it."

So might this be the second coming of Dominik Kubalik, who has shown a remarkable ability to score in myriad ways - on long blasts, tip-ins, rebounds, on the rush, etc. It took Kubalik awhile to get going last season as the Hawks eased him in on the third line and gave him very little power-play time.

That doesn't seem to be the case with Suter, who is centering the top line and also is a staple on the second PP unit.

"He's skating better," Colliton said. "He's improved his mobility from last year to this year. He's a very smart player; he's really good around the net. But his skating has allowed him to drive play and get through the neutral zone (and) get out of D-zone.

"Obviously he's playing with a couple pretty good players, but he can help them get out of D-zone and get attacking off the rush and in the offensive zone. It can really help us."

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