Drought over for Hossa as the Hawks just keep rolling

It's hard to imagine the Blackhawks' season getting any better, but it might be about to happen.

How about a coming out party for Marian Hossa?

After searching to find his goal-scoring touch in his first five weeks with the Hawks following shoulder surgery, Hossa got 2 in a 5-2 rout of Anaheim on Sunday night at the United Center.

It was a most appropriate way to cap a night when fans were given a Hossa bobble head doll on their way into the building.

"When guys who are used to scoring goals haven't scored in five or something like that games, you try to force things and go aggressive instead of trying to keep simple," said Hossa, whose goals Sunday were his first in seven games. "You just have to just relax and keep it simple and good things will happen."

Hossa confessed that he changed sticks last week in order to change his luck.

"To tell you the truth, I had black sticks at the beginning and I just changed to what I played last year, with the white ones," Hossa said. "They are old sticks so I just went back and picked up the old ones."

Hossa now has 8 goals in 20 games, but on this Hawks team there is no pressure on him to be the go-to guy every night.

Six Hawks forwards have 11 goals or more. Kris Versteeg got his 12th in Sunday's win, Troy Brouwer his 11th and Jonathan Toews his 13th of the year.

"Obviously, we have a lot of guys we rely on for offense," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "I don't think we rely on one guy."

There are no plans right now for an Antti Niemi bobble head night, but that could change if the first-year goaltender keeps winning.

Niemi improved to 10-2-1 with a 22-save performance, losing his bid for a fifth shutout in just 11 starts when the Ducks scored twice in the final 3:21.

Niemi was very good early with 11 saves in a scoreless first period when the Hawks showed some effects of Saturday's emotional win in St. Louis.

"That game in the first period there, especially the first 10-15 minutes, Antti made several key stops, high quality saves, and gave us a chance to get into that game," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

A nice passing play with John Madden and Dustin Byfuglien resulted in Versteeg's goal at 6:21 of the second period.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead out of the period on Brouwer's goal at 15:45.

Hossa struck at 1:14 of the third then again at 3:41 on a power play. It was Hossa's second 2-goal game as a Hawk and first since his Nov. 25 debut at San Jose.

The Ducks played without injured star forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selenne and it showed as the game wore on. Anaheim, which has lost three in a row and five of six, had only 3 shots on goal in the third period.

"We made too many costly errors against a very good, high-tempo team that's tough to play against," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Tim Sassone's game tracker</p>

<p class="breakhead">Three stars</p>

<p class="News"><b>1. Marian Hossa, Hawks:</b> Two goals, breaking a six-game drought.</p>

<p class="News"><b>2. Antti Niemi, Hawks:</b> A solid 22-save effort in goal to run his record to 10-2-1.</p>

<p class="News"><b>3. Brian Campbell, Hawks:</b> Plus-3 in 22 minutes with an assist and 2 blocked shots.</p>

<p class="breakhead">Key stat</p>

<p class="News">The Ducks had 1 shot on goal over the first 16 minutes of the third period.</p>

<p class="breakhead">Add 'em up.</p>

<p class="News">The 29-10-3 Hawks moved back into a tie for first place overall in the NHL standings with the San Jose Sharks with 61 points.</p>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=348227">Niemi's first-period saves impressive <span class="date">[1/4/09]</span></a></li>

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