Hawks start circus trip right
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Patrick Kane turns 20 years old today and his birthday gift came a day early.
Kane had an assist Tuesday night as the Blackhawks started their six-game road trip on the right foot with a 3-2 victory in a shootout over the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.
"It was a great year for me," said Kane, who led the Hawks in scoring last season en route to winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
The Hawks won in a shootout for only the second time in six tries, getting goals from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp while Nikolai Khabibulin stopped both tries by the Coyotes.
Khabibulin made 36 saves in the victory, his first in a shootout.
"It wasn't pretty, but that's what being on the road is all about," said Toews, now 4-for-5 in shootouts. "We didn't play our best game, but we were able to scrape it together. I guess we were due to win an overtime or shootout."
"We gave away some points in the last few games at home, so hopefully we can get on a little roll here on the road," Kane said.
The Hawks got a scare in the final minute of the first period when Kane was checked to the ice by Martin Hanzal, then accidentally kicked in the back of the head by Viktor Tikhonov.
Kane lay stunned on the ice for a few moments but was able to continue.
Kane helped the Hawks break open a scoreless game with 2 goals in the last two minutes of the first period.
Kris Versteeg banged home a Kane rebound at 18:02 after Kane was sprung free on a pass by Cam Barker. The Hawks took advantage of Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski lying injured in his own zone with Kane busting in free.
It became 2-0 at 19:11 when Sharp stole the puck from Daniel Carcillo and beat goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for his 10th goal of the season and first in five games.
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville was looking at the Hawks' first extended road trip of the season as a way to learn more about the team he took over last month.
"We're going to spend a lot of time together to get to know one another, me especially," Quenneville said. "You always want to start these things well to build some excitement and momentum. We want to get that feeling of what it's like to win on the road."
The Coyotes got power-play goals from Zbynek Michalek and Shane Doan.