Hawks entertain with another victory
Maybe the Blackhawks finally are on to something real good.
On a night when they didn't paint a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, the Hawks still found a way to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Friday at the United Center before 16,149 entertained fans.
Little by little, Hawks fans are returning to the UC, particularly in the upper 300 level, and the players are noticing.
"To come out for the (national) anthem and see all those fans, it makes you want to play even harder," said rookie Patrick Kane, who had a goal and an assist.
The win was the fourth in the last five games for the Hawks, who improved to 9-7 for the year and 5-5 on home ice.
"It seems like the last five games we're coming together," Kane said.
The Hawks had a great first period, taking a 2-1 lead, then made it 3-1 on Rene Bourque's short-handed goal 16 seconds into the second period.
They outshot the Blues 15-7 in the first period and could have led by even more if not for Manny Legace's strong play in goal for St. Louis.
"I think the biggest thing in the last two games has been our first periods," said center Patrick Sharp, whose hustling steal behind the net set up Bourque's goal. "We've come out with good starts and were able to carry it through."
The Hawks carried it through much of the game, but not all of it. They got a bit sloppy with the puck in the second period and took some penalties that allowed the Blues to get within 3-2 on David Perron's power-play goal.
"I'm pleased with the victory, obviously, but we got in penalty trouble again," Hawks coach Denis Savard said. "That's a couple games in a row now that we took 6 or 7 penalties, and we've got to get away from that.
"At the same time we've got to be able to manage the puck better. We turned it over too many times and kind of lost momentum because of it. But I'm pleased with the effort and the fact we hung in there and got the win."
Trailing 1-0, the Hawks got power-play goals from Kane and Jim Vandermeer less than three minutes apart late in the first period.
Kane got his sixth goal of the season when he skated around two defenders and seemed to surprise Legace with a wrist shot off the goalie's glove.
"The guys were joking with me that it was a 55 mile-per-hour changeup," Kane said. "I caught him off guard, but I'll take it."
Vandermeer's goal with 1:11 left in the opening period was a slap shot from the high slot through an Adam Burish screen.
"The power play has been very good for us," said Hawks goalie Patrick Lalime, who was solid late in a 23-save effort to run his record to 4-1. "When we needed goals, it was there again."
Bourque's short-handed goal was the Hawks' third against the Blues in less than a week in 2 victories.
"Our penalty-killing is helping us win a lot of games," Bourque said.