Chicago Blackhawks' Hossa hits 500 mark in win over Flyers
Welcome, Marian Hossa, to hockey immortality.
To a fraternity that has just 44 members. To a club that includes former Blackhawks Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita.
Yes, welcome Marian Hossa, to the 500-goal club.
Hossa reached the cherished milestone when he took a pass from Artem Anisimov and backhanded a shot past Flyers goalie Jakub Voracek 5:04 into the second period of a wild 7-4 Blackhawks victory Tuesday at the United Center.
"It feels great," Hossa said. "Obviously doing it home in front of our fans in Game 4 (of the season), can't be happier. Especially when the guys end up winning this game."
Hossa was injured early in the third period when he blocked a shot attempt by what appeared to be his left leg. Hossa, who did not return, said he is OK, but coach Joel Quenneville wasn't as definitive and said the team would know more Wednesday.
Hossa's goal, which came on the power play, gave the Hawks a 4-0 lead and followed first-period goals by Patrick Kane, Dennis Rasmussen and Artemi Panarin.
Incredibly, Philadelphia almost spoiled the party by storming back with 4 goals in a 5:26 span that started at 18:23 of the second period and ended at 3:49 of the third.
Anisimov saved what would have been a dreary ending to a great story by giving the Hawks the lead back at 10:24 of the third. Panarin (at 16:03) and Anisimov (at 19:15) closed out the scoring.
When Hossa's historic shot ended up in the back of the net and No. 500 was in the books, the 37-year-old thrust his right arm skyward and an adoring United Center crowd of 21,263 gave him a long standing ovation. After being surrounded by teammates, Hossa skated to the middle of the ice to acknowledge the fans.
"Great reception from the fans," Hossa said.
Said Kane: "What an amazing moment that was. You could tell he was excited, the crowd was excited. Pretty cool celebration with him coming over to the bench (and) getting everyone involved."
Hossa has been a steady goal-scoring machine for most of his career, averaging 31.5 a season between 1999-2015. The best run came over a four-season stretch 2002-07 when he pumped in 163 goals for Ottawa and Atlanta.
Hossa, who came to Chicago after signing a 12-year, $62.8 million deal in 2009, has 161 goals with the Hawks. Other former Hawks with 500 goals include Phil Esposito, Michel Goulet, Jeremy Roenick and Peter Bondra (although Bondra scored just 5 while in Chicago).
"It's a tremendous accomplishment," Quenneville said. "He's got has some offensive numbers that really are great to look at.
"The best part of his game is the consistency of being a pro night in, night out. (He's) responsible (on) both sides of the puck, plays hard every single game and night."
Sadly, but understandably, Hossa has been fielding myriad questions over the past year about his deteriorating offensive skills and, more recently, about whether or not he'd help the Hawks more as a third-line player.
Now maybe the pressure is off and Hossa will put together a 15-20 goal season - something the Hawks could really use.
"It'll help," Quenneville said. "When you have a major milestone, you'd rather get it over with and move forward and it'll help your overall game."