Dialed-in Shaw sticks it to Wings

Earlier in the week, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville talked about what a fine line Andrew Shaw has to skate every time he’s on the ice.

But even after a rough Game 3 where Shaw was whistled for a couple of penalties, including one for goaltender interference, Quenneville opined how he didn’t want his undersized forward to change anything he was doing out there ... for the most part.

“Shaw plays with energy, he goes into the hard areas and brings that passion to the game we like,” Quenneville said. “But he has to know there’s a line that you make sure you travel and don’t cross it.”

There were others who told Shaw the same thing — that the fine line he toes puts the Wallenda family to shame.

“Michal Handzus sat down and had a nice talk with me the other day,” Shaw said. “He told me, ‘You have to control your emotions. There are good times and bad times to keep your hands down and eat a punch instead of giving one.’

“I’m not going to jinx myself here, but I’ve been walking that line pretty good here.”

That he has, and in the biggest game of his young career, the 21-year-old came through big-time scoring a pair of goals, including 1 on the power play where he was in front of goaltender Jimmy Howard and redirected a shot past him to propel the Hawks to a crucial 4-1 victory over Detroit in Game 5 at the United Center.

“He was all over the place,” Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said shaking his head. “He’s not the biggest guy out there but there’s nothing he can’t do — in his own mind at least.

“He definitely showed it tonight and that’s good for him. He’s scoring those ugly goals just by going to the net. He’s not going to be denied ... that’s something every guy in this room could take away from his play.”

It was Shaw’s first multi-goal playoff game and his first career postseason power-play goal. He now has 6 points through 10 games.

And to think he nearly made it 7 points, but just missed capping the night with a hat trick late in the third period.

“It was a great pass from (Brandon Saad),” Shaw said. “I was just trying to get a shot on net and not run into (Howard).”

See? It’s a fine line.