Chicago Blackhawks get much needed win over Jets
In desperate need of a victory, a game against the last-place Winnipeg Jets figured to be the perfect tonic for the Blackhawks on Friday.
For nearly 37 minutes, though, the Hawks were not only locked in a scoreless tie, but also exhibiting more of the sloppy play that was driving fans crazy over the past week.
But after the Jets failed to take advantage of a pair of first-period gifts, the visiting Hawks erupted and claimed a 4-0 victory thanks to goals by Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, former Jets captain Andrew Ladd and Tomas Fleischmann.
Scott Darling was solid - if not spectacular - in net, making 28 saves in his second straight start.
The victory snapped a four-game skid for coach Joel Quenneville's squad and allowed the Hawks to creep within 1 point of second-place St. Louis in the Central Division.
"The last half of the game was something we've been looking for," Quenneville told reporters. "Darls needed a game like that and we needed a win like that."
Quenneville put Kane, Jonathan Toews and Ladd together late in the second period and it paid instant dividends as Kane scored at 16:56, beating Marko Dano down the ice and roofing a backhanded shot past Ondrej Pavelec. It was Kane's 39th goal of the season.
"Great play by Kaner. Great finish," Quenneville said.
A mere 26 seconds later, Hossa made it 2-0 when he buried his 498th career goal after Artem Anisimov had his shot blocked by Dustin Byfuglien and the puck bounced right to Hossa.
Ladd made it 3-0 at 3:06 of the third period and essentially put the game away when he took a pass from Jonathan Toews and easily beat Pavelec for his 20th goal of the season. Kane also registered an assist for his 92nd point.
"Laddy's one of those teammates you appreciate," Quenneville said. "You're happy for him. The fans were great to him as well."
Said Ladd: "I appreciated the ovations and really can't say enough about the city."
Fleischmann scored 1:45 later when he wove through the defense and neatly tucked the puck past Pavalec.
The Hawks were fortunate the Jets didn't take an early lead as turnovers by Artemi Panarin and Ladd led to Grade A scoring chances.
Darling also made the stop of the game on a Drew Stafford shot with 8:35 to go in the second period. Stafford had taken a perfect no-look pass from Blake Wheeler and looked like he might give the Jets a 1-0 lead.
Until Darling came to the rescue.
"(Stafford) was pretty far out, so I had to push twice just to get over there," Darling told Comcast SportsNet. "I just threw my limbs out and I was lucky enough to get a piece of it."
The Hawks will now see if they can build off this momentum as they return home to face Minnesota on Sunday and Dallas on Tuesday.
Quick hits:
The Blackhawks assigned defenseman David Rundblad to the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. Rundblad was on loan by the Blackhawks to the ZSC Lions of Switzerland's National League A ... All-Star forward Tyler Seguin is likely to miss at least the rest of the regular season for the Western Conference-leading Dallas Stars because of a small cut of his left Achilles tendon ... The NHL has suspended Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde two games for elbowing Jonathan Toews in the head in Wednesday night's game.
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