Hawks prevail over Avalanche in fast paced game, 3-1

The Blackhawks cooled off the hot Colorado Avalanche in Denver 3-1, in the first half of a home & home, in a fast-paced, high-tempo game where both goaltenders excelled.

The Avalanche, in their first game back after having won five straight on the road, were flying high, boasting the highest scoring offense in the league and the top powerplay. The Hawks had not lost in regulation since opening night, and coming off perhaps their best performance, their first road win of the year in Phoenix.

Despite the 3-1 scoreline, the scoring chances were plenty, with Colorado getting the first good one just over a minute in, when Hossa was checked off the puck by Duchene at center, who led Joakim Lindstrom along the left boards. As he crossed the blue line Milan Hejduk streaked down the left side in front of him, effectively outnumbering Seabrook. Lindstrom fired a shot high on Crawford from the top of the left circle which he was able to fend off raising his blocker, but he left a rebound which Hejduk pounced on, trying to go five hole, but Crawford had the bottom of the net covered. Hossa & Kane responded by taking the puck back down the ice and controlling the play in the Colorado zone, however, they never tested Varlamov.

Moments later, as the hawks were changing with Bolland moving through center, he was poke-checked by David Jones and the puck went to Duncan Keith at the hawk blue line, who had just come off the bench - however, the man he was replacing, Hjalmarsson, had not yet gotten off the ice, and the hawks were whistled for too many men.

The Avs tested Crawford early & often on the powerplay with several good chances, after Hejduk won the draw against Bolland. He set up Stastny in the dot of the circle to the right of Crawford and fired a quick low shot at Crawford with Jones parked in front, but Crawford made the save. Jones picked up the puck behind the net, then moved it back to the point, while moving in front and tipped the point shot on net which Crawford managed to stop.

Seconds later after a hawk clear, the Avs moved back over the blueline with Winnick drawing Keith towards him, then slid it back to the left side where a streaking Stastny moved in with a clear shot on Crawford from the faceoff dot. Crawford moved out to challenge the winger, and stoned him with another excellent save.

Toews then picked up the rebound and slowly skated it to center, while both teams changed, giving Toews an opening - noticing that forward Lindstrom was back along with Johnson, Toews turned on the jets and blew past Lindstrom giving him the angle on Johnson as he cut in on Varlamov getting off a good backhand which the Av goalie stopped.

The Avs picked up the loose puck and moved right back up ice, with Kobasew taking Johnson's lead pass into the hawk zone and again feeding Stastny streaking down the left side, who passed it cross-ice to the trailer Hejduk, who got off a good backhand which Crawford stopped. The hawks managed to kill off the rest of the penalty without giving up any more good chances.

The teams then traded 5 on 5 chances, with quick transitions and counterattacks on change/loss of possessions with perhaps the best chance coming when TJ Galiardi intercepted Stalberg's cross-ice pass attempt just inside the Avs line, and immediately turned up ice with it, trapping four hawks in deep, while MacLeod joined him on a 2 on 1, with O'Donnell the lone hawk back, but Crawford made another good save, this time on MacLeod, covering up before Galiardi had a chance to pounce on the loose puck.

Bolland and Bickell then led the hawks up ice, and with Bickell retrieving the puck along the right boards after his shot attempt was blocked, Bolland drew a penalty driving to the goal as he was cross-checked from behind, causing him to collide with Varlamov & dislodging the net, giving the hawks their first powerplay.

The hawks never really tested Varlamov as the Avs did a good job of aggressively getting in shooting lanes & blocking the few shots attempted, and forcing the hawks to move the puck quickly. Seabrook's shot at the end of the powerplay was the only time the hawks really threatened, however, the shot didn't get through and Hossa was unable to control the rebound for a chance.

Kane then led a rush out of his own zone and carried deep into the Av zone before stopping at the top of the right circle and firing a high wrist shot that Varlamov grabbed without giving up a rebound as Kruger drove to the net looking for loose change.

Moments later, the Avs came close when O'Byrne from his own blueline hit rookie Gabriel Landeskog just over the hawk line with a hard pass. Landeskog, then made a deft pass to spring oncoming Ryan O'Reilly past O'Donnell and into an opening on the right side - O'Reilly managed to get a good backhand off that hit the crossbar. That line kept possession and the pressure on in the hawk zone for the rest of their shift with O'Reilly getting another good chance after being set up by Winnick right in the slot but his low screened shot was stopped by Crawford without giving a rebound.

The Bolland line came on for the next shift, with Bickell getting a good chance after skating into the zone and then from deep in the right corner he skated behind the net to the other side & then moving out in front, turned and fired a hard shot that Varlamov kicked out.

Kane's line followed that up with a strong shift of their own, keeping possession in the offensive zone for the duration, even to the point where Kane and Hossa were able to change with the hawks still with possession in the Avs zone. Brunette then tried to hit Leddy, who had moved into the slot area for a chance, however the pass was broken up by Hejda, with the puck deflecting deep into the left corner. Leddy then beat his #8 counterpart to the corner and managed to get the puck to Carcillo who was coming around from behind the net. He then hit Toews, who had just come off the bench for Kane and was driving toward the net unchecked and Toews lifted a backhand high over Varlamov's stick side and into the top corner and the hawks had a 1-0 lead, against the run of play, shots & scoring chances on a beautiful goal.

The Avs tried to respond immediately, keeping the puck in the hawk zone on the next shift with the hawks fourth line on the ice, however, Cody MacLeod was a bit overly aggressive, hitting a prone Stalberg from behind into the boards head first, and drawing a boarding penalty. O'Donnell, who had made a solid hit on Jay McLement seconds earlier in the same vicinity, skated over to MacLeod right after the hit and gave him a shove, and let him know that his dangerous hit wasn't appreciated (or something to that effect). Mayers and O'Byrne appeared to also be exchanging words as they tied each other up, but nothing further developed - Stalberg got up fairly quickly and appeared no worse for wear as the hawks went on their second powerplay.

The hawks were able to enjoy some zone time in the Avs end, however, never tested Varlamov as Seabrook's point shot was blocked near the end of the powerplay. The hawks were outshot 13-6 in the 1st, despite having two powerplays to the Avs one, but scored the only goal.

The Hawks started the second with some sloppy play, failing to clear their zone despite several chances to do so, which gave the Avs some momentum. Just over two minutes in, the Avs gained the hawk line with another stretch pass by Quincey from his own blueline that found Lindstrom, who delayed once he gained the hawk zone, then found Hejduk who had beaten Bickell back down the right side, however he shot it high and wide.

On the next shift, the hawks again turned it over in their own zone, allowing the Avs to recover a dump in behind the hawk net, with Winnick setting up O'Reilly who had moved in close but Crawford was alert and stopped it. Moments later, Ryan Wilson from his own zone found David Jones in behind the hawks defense and led him perfectly with a breakaway pass, however, Seabrook somehow managed to recover and steal the puck cleanly before he got a chance to get a shot off, without fouling the Av forward.

Kane & Hossa then combined to create a couple of good chances for the hawks, however, Varlamov was solid. On the following shift, Sharp was stripped of the puck as he carried in over the Avs line and Winnick quickly headed back deep into the hawk zone with O'Donnell & Sharp in pursuit. Winnick turned and found a wide open trailer, Hejda at the left point who skated into the circle before letting a shot go, allowing Crawford time to come well out to cut down the angle, and his shot was blocked & slid wide of the open cage.

The hawks responded, with Frolik getting a couple of good chances, first firing a shot from the left half boards that seemed to surprise Varlamov, whose positioning rather than reaction allowed him to stop it. Frolike got another chance later in the shift, taking a pass in the slot from Bolland and cutting between two defenders to get a backhand on net that Varlamov had to be alert to stop.

The Avs followed that up with yet another odd man rush that eventually led to a chance for O'Reilly who picked up a loose puck after Toews was checked along the left half-boards and he cut into the slot and just missed the net with a shot to the side where Crawford had moved from.

The next shift, the Avs continued to pressure the hawks in their own zone, who were not able to complete a line change and Lindstrom made another deft backhand pass from the left corner to Hejduk, who for some reason Bickell had left alone in front, and he was able to get a good forehand off from in close that tested Crawford. After the hawks were able to clear, Johnson from behind his own goal line just failed to connect with Kobasew for a breakaway at the hawk line, however, Crawford's backhand pass off the boards to Seabrook missed and Jones picked up the loose puck, and skating behind the hawk net found Johnson in from the right point who fired a shot that seemed to catch Crawford awkwardly in the midsection, tho he managed to hang on while staying down briefly.

The hawks penchant for giving up odd man rushes finally cost them as Leddy was caught pinching at the Colorado line trying to keep an Avs clear attempt in the zone, while the rest of the Avs headed up the ice and Bolland trying to cover for Leddy. O'Byrne, recognizing that the young hawk defenseman was caught, smartly moved up on the rush on the right side as a trailer, making it a 4 on 3 cutting to the net unchecked as the hawk defenders backed in, giving Lindstrom, the puck carrier, lots of space and he turned & fed Duchene who wristed a shot that deflected and bounced right in front where an unchecked O'Byrne was and the puck hit off his glove & in behind Crawford to tie the game, 1-1. Leddy may have decided to pinch as part of heading off to the bench, but the decision ended up costing the hawks.

Chicago tried to respond with the fourth line getting some offensive zone time which was followed up by the Toews line getting a a good chance when Toews picked up a loose puck in the slot & firing on a turnaround that Varmalov had to be sharp to save. Kane and Hossa then almost connected with Kane firing a shot on net from the left circle, but Hossa was unable to connect on the rebound then later Kane set Hossa up for a one-timer from inside the line that was blocked before it got through. Toews' line followed that up with Toews setting up Sharp in the last minute for a chance that was saved by the Avs goalie, then in the dying seconds, Seabrook realizing there was not time for the Avs to counter, smartly headed into the slot as Brunette recovered the puck in the Avs corner, fed Toews behind the net and the captain found Seabrook moving in all alone in front, but his point blank shot was kicked aside by the right pad of Varlamov who didn't have much time to react and the game remained tied 1-1 after 2 periods.

As in the first period, the team that had the fewer shots in the period ironically scored the only goal, as the hawks outshot the Avs 12-8.

The hawks came out strongly in the third as they had finished the second, getting a good chance less than a minute in when Leddy's point shot was deflected in front, but stayed out. A few minutes later Toews on the rush had an opening down the right side & fired a shot that Varmalov handled without giving a rebound. Kane and Hossa followed that shift with Kane taking Hossa's pass and fired a wrister that tested Varmalov. On the next shift, Bolland from behind the Avs net set up Frolik with a similar point blank chance that Seabrook had at the end of the second and Varmalov made yet another great save.

Patrick Sharp then picked up a loose puck at center after Keith had stopped an Avs rush and he moved into the Av zone on right wing and fired a high shot from a sharp angle that Varlamov stopped, however, he couldn't control the rebound which went to Brunette driving the net from the slot, who fired a shot which Varmalov made an excellent blocker save. Sharp then picked up the loose puck in the corner and skated to the left circle, turned and fired a shot stick side, finally managing to beat Varlamov to the hawks were up again, 2-1.

The Avs tried to respond quickly, getting a point blank chance off of a poor Kane pass in his own zone to an open wing, which Colorado recovered, with Stastny setting up Jones in front, however Seabrook managed to get his stick on the shot & deflect it out of play. Hossa & Kane eventually recovered and got some good offensive zone time on the shift. The hawks to their credit didn't lay back, but kept moving forward at every opportunity, though they were also fortunate to avoid a penalty call on Hjalmarsson who appeared to close his hand on the puck after falling in his own zone, and sending/throwing the puck for icing, which prompted a time out by Quenneville to give the guys at the end of a long shift a breather.

With about five minutes to go, it appeared the hawks had the clincher when Kane, in the Avs zone, made some nifty moves in traffic, moving to his left and into the slot before finding Kruger off to the right side of the net however Varlamov made a dazzling glove save on Kruger's one timer to keep it a one goal game. On the ensuing faceoff, Toews gained control behind the Avs net and threatening a wrap-around from behind the net, which pulled Varlamov to the near post, instead set up Sharp to the left of the Av net, however, his shot at the gaping cage was deflected wide by Quincey. The Avs then moved up ice as Jones cut in from the left side but Crawford managed to make the save without giving a rebound. On the next shift, Wilson fired a point shot through traffic that Crawford managed to squeeze. Quincey fired a shot off the face-off win which hit Crawford, who didn't appear to see it. The Avs continued to press on, getting a couple of more good chances with O'Reilly getting tripped up by Seabrook after tesing Crawford with just over 2 minutes left, giving the Avs their second powerplay.

The hawks managed to get a couple of crucial clears in the first 30 seconds of the penalty kill, before the Avs pulled Varlamov for a 6 on 4 skater advantage, and were able to gain possession in the hawk zone after Keith failed to clear a dump-in. Hejduk got a chance, but his shot was turned aside by Crawford with his leg pad along the ice, then he was able to block a point shot floated in by Johnson but left a rebound which created a scramble in front - the Avs managed to get to it twice, but both times shot wide with the puck managing to get out of the zone after the second shot as no Av was covering the right point. Toews managed to challenge Johnson at center for the loose puck, giving Hossa enough time to jump up and recover the loose puck and move in over the Av line to score on the empty net shorthanded to salt the game away, 3-1 Chicago. Landeskog moved in after the penalty expired and tested Crawford one last time, with Crawford fittingly makinge the save on the original shot and on the rebound before time expired.

Shots on goal were even at 11 for the third, and favored Colorado 32-29 for the game, many of them high quality chances (and some that never made it on net), though the hawks had plenty of good chances as well, particularly in the 3rd period.

Overall, the hawks had a solid team effort to come away with the win, led by Crawford, who made difficult saves look routine as the Avalanche tested him early and often. A fast-paced, well-played game, the hawks were able to withstand Colorado's early onslaught, thanks mainly to Crawford and then eventually created their own chances.

While Kane was held off the scoresheet, he and Hossa combined for some good offensive zone time with Kane setting up Hossa and Kruger for two very good scoring chances, while Toews and Sharp led the way offensively. Of the players who failed to connect, Michael Frolik was perhaps the most impressive, managing a team leading five shots on goal for the game, several of them good opportunities in just over 14 minutes of ice time, tho he ended up with a -1.

The defense was solid again with all three pairings contributing, limiting the mistakes and getting plenty of support from the forwards and of course being backed up by Crawford.

Toews with a goal & an assist and a +3 and 5 shots on goal in just under 18 minutes was the most productive hawk forward, though he was only 6 for 16 on face-offs, as Colorado dominated the dots, 31-23, with Bolland the only hawk center finishing at .500

If the rematch in Chicago on Saturday is anything like this game, the fans are in for a treat. The hawks will also be unveiling statues of Bobby Hull & Stan Mikita before the game, long overdue honors to two hawk legends who helped build the franchise.

Hawks rebound vs. Phoenix for first road win, 5-2

The Hawks bounced back from their SO loss to the defending Stanley Cup champions with a solid team effort on Tuesday and picked up their first road win of the year against the Coyotes. Marion Hossa returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's game with an undisclosed upper body injury apparently suffered against Winnipeg.

The hawks got an early powerplay less than two minutes in, where Pyatt hit Hjalmarsson into the boards behind the hawk net. Their first good scoring chance came when Patrick Kane at center found Patrick Sharp skating along the blueline & perfectly led him with a pass behind the Phoenix defensemen lined up at the blueline, giving Sharp a clear break from the left side, tho Labarbara cut off the angle giving Sharp little to shoot at.

The hawks continued to buzz the offensive zone on the powerplay in particular the line of Bolland, Bickell & Hossa, however, couldn't get one past Labarbara.

The hawks then got a penalty of their own, as Phoenix threatened in the hawk zone, Mikael Boedker was hooked by Daniel Carcillo as he cut into the slot for a shot.
The Coyotes had a couple of close calls, one where an attempted pass by Vrbata deflected high off of Yandle and appeared headed over Crawford and toward the net but an alert Crawford knocked it away.

The teams traded some good chances after the expiration of the hawk penalty. Carcillo failed to clear the hawk zone and that led eventually to a chance for Pyatt alone in front, however, he shot it wide. Carcillo later blocked a point shot that helped finally clear the hawk zone. The hawks fourth line then had a good shift, getting some good zone time in the Phoenix end, however, couldn't score.

That was followed up by a good shift from Kane, Hossa & Carcillo, with LaBarbara making a good save on Carcillo, who picked up a deflected Kane shot and fired it right away from 15 feet. Hossa then interecepted a clear attempt and set up Montador at the blueline, who stepped into it, but Labarabara made a good stick save. Hawks were outshooting Phoenix 11-3 at that point. That was followed up by a good shift from the Toews line, continuing the strong forechecking, hemming the Yotes in their own zone.

Bolland later led a 3 on 2 rush, and fed Frolik on the right side after entering the zone, while driving toward the net, taking Aucoin with him. Frolik then delayed, drawing a defender towards him, while passing to Bickell moving in alone from the left side. Bickell got a point blank shot away, however, Labarbara made the save, while Bolland crashed into the post, falling and hitting the side/back of his head on the ice. He stayed down momentarily, clutching his head, but got up and skated off, while Aucoin was assessed a minor for interference.

On the ensuing powerplay, Andrew Brunette won a puck battle in the right corner and found Kane in the right circle, driving all alone toward the front of the net where Korpikoski managed to tug Kane's left glove with his stick, causing Kane to lose control of the puck and Korpikoski to get a minor for hooking, thus giving the hawks a 5 on 3.

The hawks finally connected after a couple of back & forth passes, first between Keith, who had gained the line, and Kane, then Keith from the right point, fed Hossa at the top of the left circle. Hossa fed it to Sharp down low, causing Klesla to drop down to cover Sharp, giving Hossa a clear shot which he one-timed on the return feed from Sharp, 1-0 Hawks.

The hawks almost gave up another shorthanded goal on the second minor when Leddy failed to get the puck in deep, allowing Hanzal to clear the zone by passing it to former hawk Vrbata who was then 1 on 1 vs. Seabrook. After gaining the line, Vrbata delayed, and with the hawks changing, Morris smartly moved down the right side unchecked and Vrbata led him with a perfect pass that allowed him to move in alone from the right circle on Crawford who came out to cut down the angle. Instead of shooting, Morris quickly skated behind and around the hawk net, as Crawford, Leddy and Seabrook tried to scramble back into position. Both Seabrook and Leddy, however, overpursued Morris, leaving Daymond Langkow all alone in front of a still vacated net and forunately for the hawks, Morris's pass handcuffed Langkow, hitting him in the skates and the puck bounced harmlessly wide.

There were so may sloppy plays on this shift that led to the Phoenix chance - first, Leddy at the end of a shift failed to get the puck in deep to allow for a line change and instead gave up possession. Then, compounding the error, both he and Seabrook were caught checking Vrbata by the hawk bench (looking to change), leaving the entire right side of the ice wide open for Morris. Leddy, quickly tried to recover and chase down Morris, only to overpursue, leaving both him & Seabrook behind the net and no one in front to cover. Crawford was also slow to get back in position and the hawks were very fortunate that none of these bad decisions cost them a momentum turning goal against right after they had just worked so hard to get the lead.

The hawks escaped further damage and left the first with a 1-0 lead, outshooting Phoenix 15-4.

The second didn't start well for the hawks as Kane lost the draw, and Hjalmarsson lost a puck battle in the corner with the puck ultimately sent back to the point where Schlemko's shot from the left point got through with Crawford stretching to make a low glove save, but he couldn't control the puck as it sat in front with both Pyatt and Hjalmarsson trying to get to it, it appeared that Hjalmarsson may have actually scored as he was trying to steer the puck back to Crawford to cover, tho Pyatt's stick was also there at the same time, attempting to direct it on net and he ended up with credit for the goal that tied the game 1-1.

The hawks tried to respond, with a good shift by Toews following the goal against. That was followed up with a strong shift by the fourth line, again with good zone time in the Phoenix end, with Stalberg getting a good chance intercepting a bad clear attempt by Labarbara from behind his own net - Stalberg tried to one-time it from the left circle, but Labarbara managed to get back in his net to make the save.

They were eventually rewarded for their efforts when Patrick Sharp took a pass from Seabrook at center and found Brunette moving in over the line. Brunette delayed while Toews drove the net, then timed his shot to perfection, as Toews arrived first to pick up the rebound and stuff it behind Labarbara and the hawks had restored their lead, 2-1.

That was followed up by a strong shift from Kane's line with Hossa missing a great chance at the side of the crease with an open net, failing to get a stick on the rebound from Kane's wrist shot from the left faceoff dot. 13-88-81 continued to control possession in the Phoenix zone for a good minute, until the puck was finally cleared out behind Montador who had moved in for a shot, givng Whitney a partial break down the left side. O'Donnell did a good job recovering and cutting down his angle and options, especially given that Whitney was a right handed shot, however, Whitney's centering pass attempt went off O'Donnell's skate to an open area where Doan was able to easily beat the overpursuing Montador to the puck and he turned to find the trailer, Ekman-Larsson alone in the slot, having beaten Kane back, but he fired his shot wide. Kane picked up the puck as it was heading back in front after bouncing off the boards, and as he skated behind the hawk net, Whitney tried to lift his stick, but caught Kane in the face and was assessed a high sticking minor.

Hawks had a good chance with Keith firing a hard shot from the line but Labarbara was able to hang on without giving a rebound. Shortly after the powerplay ended, Duncan Keith had all kinds of trouble with a seemingly routine cross-ice pass from Montador in his own zone, losing an edge on his skate and eventually falling down and into the boards, allowing Langkow to easily recover the puck and he fed Whitney who was smartly moving into the slot, in behind all the hawks who were skating up ice, assuming that Keith would move the puck up. Whitney faked, then fired the puck up high glove side, beating Montador who had gone down to try to take away the low shot, and Crawford who seemed handcuffed by the slight delay, going down enough to leave room up top and the game was tied again, 2-2.

Keith redeemed himself less than a minute later, recovering the puck in the hawks left corner and clearing up to Kruger on the side boards, who led a streaking Mayers at center into a wide open right side as the Yotes were changing. Mayers moved in to the right circle and fired a shot from about 20 feet that went high & wide and rebounded to Stalberg on the left side boards, who fed Keith back at the left point, and his hard point shot was tipped by Mayers who had moved into the slot and the hawks were back in front, 3-2.

The hawks continued to carry much of the play the rest of the second, with Kane drawing yet another penalty, this time a trip on Shane Doan who got tried to stick check the puck from Kane but instead caught his skate & took them out from underneath him and the hawks had a late powerplay, though were unable to convert, outshooting Phoenix 12-5 in the second. With the seconds winding down at the end of the 2nd, Martin Hanzel gave Hossa a slight cross-check to the back behind the Phoenix net - Hossa immediately turned and went after Hanzal, swinging his stick at Hanzal's feet, while Hanzal swung back in return, tho neither appeared to connect. Hossa was given a minor for slashing, giving Phoenix a powerplay to start the 3rd on a fresh sheet of ice.

Despite outshooting the Yotes 27-9 through two, the hawks led by only 1 and were shorthanded for a full two minutes to start the third. They were able to kill off the minor without yielding a dangerous chance, with Toews doing a good job winning a draw and killing off some clock with some good hustle. However, seconds after Hossa's penalty expired, Sharp took a bad tripping penalty, putting the Yotes right back on the powerplay, as the hawks were flirting with disaster.

They were rescued by none other than Dave Bolland, who took advantage of a poor decision by Keith Yandle to make a drop pass to the last man back, Vrbata, with Bolland pressuring. Bolland easily knocked the puck away from Vrbata, then recovered it and moved in alone and blasted a high slapshot high stickside that beat a startled LaBarbara and the hawks had some breathing room, 4-2.

That seemed to demoralize Phoenix as the hawks easily killed off the rest of their powerplay and created another good chance for themselves, when Toews was sent in alone after Yandle made a poor decision, not getting the puck in deep at the hawk line and being stripped of it by Hossa, who led Toews streaking at center in behind Yandle, tho Labarbara made the save. Hossa then checked the puck off a Yote, keeping it in the offensive zone, with the puck eventually finding Toews who moved into the high slot for another clear shot that Labarbara stopped with the glove.

The hawks continued their strong forechecking, keeping Phoenix bottled up in their own zone for long stretches. About halfway through the period, they broke out of their own zone, with Bolland & Frolik catching the Yotes pressing, with Frolik taking a feed from Bolland along the right side boards and he flipped it ahead to Bickell at center with one man back, while Bolland moved past the 2nd defensemen who had tried to pinch on Frolik to keep the puck in the zone. Bickell moved in on the right wing, using Bolland as a decoy & fired a laser that beat Labarbara high off his shoulder and it was 5-2. From that point, the hawks were content to kill the clock, continuing to pressure the Yotes all over the ice without letting up, getting a couple more good scoring chances from Hossa and Sharp, who scored on a net that had been dislodged off its moorings, with about two minutes left, however, after review, the goal was disallowed, though no delay of game penalty was given to Labarbara for knocking the net off. The hawks eventually skated off with a solid team win.

Overall, while the hawks were full value for the victory, outshooting Phoenix 35-16 on the night, there were a couple of key points where the complexion of the game could have changed but didn't thanks to some fortuitous bounces, tho to their credit the hawks did respond well each time Phoenix managed to tie the game.

Hossa's return was noticeable, as he opened the scoring and had several more good chances working together with Kane, and did good work with Toews on the pk. Bolland made his presence felt yet again, scoring a key shorthanded goal that proved to be the clincher and assisting on Bickell's goal.

The hawks got scoring from all four lines, their special teams were good, their forecheck and puck possession was strong, limiting shots against in a game that reminded of their dominance in the Cup year. Keith finished with two points and a +3, despite the turnover that led to Phoenix's 2nd goal and a more reasonable 24 minutes of ice, while Montador & O'Donnell each played over 19, giving the hawks better balance at the back. Even shots on goal was nicely spread among forwards with Leddy & Kruger the only hawks not to register one.

While an encouraging win for Chicago, a bigger & better test awaits in Denver as the hawks next face the high-flying Avalanche, who won all 5 games on their recent road trip and play a high, up-tempo game.

Hawks can't hold 3rd period lead, lose to Boston in Shootout.

The defending Stanley Cup Champions looked ripe for the taking, having dropped 3 of their first 4 games of the season and trailing their 5th game heading into the 3rd period to the previous Stanley Cup champions, and giving up an early powerplay opportunity to start the final frame. But the hawks failed to capitalize, going -1 for 3 with the man advantage on the evening and as so often was the case last season, Chicago blew a 3rd period lead at home in eventually losing to the Bruins 3-2 in a SO.

The hawks came out skating, unlike their start on Thursday at home against Winnipeg and carried much of the early play, outshooting Boston 9-2 at one point. Kane had lots of jump again and looked dangerous every time he was on the ice, picking up some loose change that Stalberg left for him inside the Bruins line about five minutes in and he cut right in on Thomas who was forced to make a good save on a backhand.

The Bruins Gregory Campbell tried to change the hawks early momentum by challenging Jamal Mayers to a fight about halfway through the first, with Mayers getting Campbell's helmet off early in the bout & landing a couple of shots and later taking a couple as well, before they twirled around with Mayers losing his balance & falling to the ice. No decision for either.

Stalberg then took a bad penalty deep in the offensive zone for tripping midway through the first, and the Bruins seemed to gain more momentum, getting several chances and shots during the powerplay & afterwards.

The teams continued to trade chances in a fast paced game, with Kane again threatening when he was sprung by a stretch pass from Montador deep in the hawks zone and moved down the left side, evading the over-pursuing Corvo by stopping, then spinning around while Corvo skated past, to get a clear backhand shot on Thomas but the Vezina trophy winner was again equal to the task.

After a physical shift by the fourth line of Scott, Mayers & Kruger, it was Bryan Bickell who struck first, intercepting a pass at center while the Bruins were changing, and he moved in on a breakaway against Thomas, beating him five-hole with a quick wrist shot along the ice and it was 1-0 Chicago late in the first. The goal was recorded as unassisted, but it was Dave Bolland harassing Andrew Ferrence with strong back-pressure with Patrick Sharp closing off his forward options and forcing him into a cross-ice pass attempt, that caused the turnover that gave Bickell the breakaway.

The second period started out promising for the hawks, gaining an early powerplay as goaltender interference was called on Nathan Horton as he made contact with Crawford just as Ferrence was shooting from the left point. About a minute into the man-advantage, Brent Seabrook moved in deep in the Bruins zone along the right side and ripped a shot from a bad angle high & wide of the net. The puck bounced high off the glass, catching three hawks deep in the zone and when Frolik failed to corral the puck along the left boards, it bounced right to Rich Peverley who started up ice along with Chris Kelly, who beat Frolik up ice in a 2 on 1 for Boston, with Keith the lone hawk back. Keith tried to take away the pass by putting his stick along the ice, however, Peverley was able to nevertheless connect with Kelly, streaking down the center and he fired the puck high stick side past Crawford who vainly moved across the goal and suddenly the game was tied, 1-1 on a shorthanded goal.

The hawks rebounded quickly after the powerplay expired, and once again Kane was the catalyst, barely missing a chance at the end of the costly powerplay when he moved across from just inside the right blueline to the left circle, firing a shot just wide. Moments later, he recovered a loose puck behind the Bruins net, then, passed it to himself as he spun around to avoid the check of Ferrence, moving towards the right half boards, before firing a pass to the left edge of the crease that Sharp just failed to connect with for a tap in. Montador then moved in deep to the left corner to recover the loose puck, and found Kane alone at the left faceoff dot and he fired a shot low to Thomas's glove side to restore the Hawks lead, 2-1.

The game settled in after that, with both teams creating chances, the hawks with their skating and transition, the Bruins with their aggressive forecheck and physical play, keeping possession and pressuring the hawks in their own zone.

With about five minutes left in the second, Frolik checked Kelly into the boards from behind and was assessed a minor boarding penalty, sending the Bruins to their second powerplay. They created a couple of good chances, but perhaps the best chance was when Sharp blocked a point shot by Corvo and blew past the Bruins defensemen down the left wing with Seidenberg scrambling back to cut off the slot area. Toews was moving up through center trying to catch up on the play to make it a two on one, but was being pursued by Peverley, yet Sharp, who had a good angle on net decided to give up the shot in favor of a pass to the left-shooting Toews, who had to slow down and turn to his left to be able to one-time the pass, which gave Peverley enough time to break up the play. At the end of the powerplay, the Bruins had a great chance when Chara's shot from the right point was blocked by Hjalmarsson, but the puck bounced right to Peverley, who found Bergeron in front of the net, but his shot was deflected wide by Seabrook, with Crawford scrambling to get across to cover.

The third period started out like the second, with Boston taking an early penalty after Bergeron checked Frolik from behind into the boards at the hawk bench, taking a minor. The hawks couldn't get the powerplay untracked and yet again gave up an odd man rush against late in the powerplay, with a bad pinch by Leddy. The Bruins actually had a three on one this time, with Marchand moving in on the left side and making a cross-ice feed to Paille, who fired a shot that Crawford moved over to save, with Marchand & Bolland getting into a scrum off to the left of Crawford at the end of the play, however, no damage was done.

A few minutes later, the hawks had a chance on a three on two, with Stalberg moving down the left side with Carcillo driving to the net & Kane trailing, however Stalberg moved in deep giving himself a bad shooting angle, yet nevertheless tried to shoot, with Thomas making an easy save as Stalberg had nothing left to shoot at.

As the period wore on, the Bruins came on, using their size & physicality to seemingly wear down the hawks, driving hard to the net, and their determination paid off roughly midway through the period when Boychuk took a backpass at his own blueline, moved to the red line and dumped it in deep into the right corner, then blew past Duncan Keith as he went after his own dump in, retrieving it in the corner while three Bruin forwards closed in around the hawk net with only Leddy between them and Crawford. Boychuck then moved behind the Hawk net unchecked and found Horton moving in from the left side, and he beat Crawford on a one timer and the game was tied, 2-2, with Boston clearly coming on. Leddy had picked up Lucic in front, but Sharp & Toews came back late, leaving Horton (and Seguin) unchecked and it cost the hawks.

The Bruins continued to carry most of the play, but with under five minutes to play in regulation, Benoit Pouliot accidentally high sticked Seabrook and took a minor, giving the hawks an opening. However, for the first minute with the man advantage, the hawks had trouble gaining the zone, and when they finally did, Patrick Sharp was caught holding the stick of Boychuck, killing the powerplay. The hawks had managed only 1 shot on goal in all of their three powerplays on the night, and had given up a shorthanded goal to boot. In fact, they created better chances on the ensuing 4 on 4 than on the preceding powerplay, but still couldn't get a clean shot on Thomas. The Bruins then went on an abbreviated powerplay at the end of Poulliot's penalty and with less than a minute left, Seidenberg moved in from the left point and drilled a shot that rang off the iron.

Then after Sharp's penalty expired, the Bruins moved in again in the dying seconds with Chara firing at the net from the right point that deflected off Hjalmarsson and high over the net, with Crawford raising his arms seemingly in frustration at Hjalmarrson that he couldn't see/find the puck off Chara's stick.

The 4 on 4 overtime with more ice seemed to favor the hawks skating game over the Bruins hard driving, physical forechecking style, however it was Boston that threatened first with Seidenberg moving in unchecked deep down the right side & getting a backhand off that Crawford had some trouble with, leaving a rebound that was picked up by Horton in front, causing some anxious moments before the hawks were able to finally check the puck off him & clear the zone.

The Bruins came close again moments later when Lucic moved in unchecked on the left side but fanned on the shot, with the puck going harmlessly into the corner, however, O'Donnell's clear behind the net to the other corner was picked up by Peverley who turned and skated to the right circle dot & fired a high shot that hit Crawford in the shoulder and bounced in front, where Montador finally recovered.

He smartly passed off to Kane who carried the puck into the Bruins zone, stopping high along the left boards, with O'Donnell, Frolik and Montador all moving in deep past Kane, leaving him as the last man back. Kane was then checked off the puck, trapping the other three hawks deep in the Bruin zone and giving Peverley a clear breakaway from his own blueline, however his deke failed when he flipped a backhand wide of the net on Crawford's stick side.

The hawks had one final chance in OT, when Kane found Seabrook moving in from the right point with a cross-ice pass, however Seabrook was again at a bad angle and his high shot bounced off Thomas across the front of the net where a driving Toews failed to connect. Kane picked up the loose puck and moved back in front for another backhand attempt, however Chara blocked it.

In the shootout, Toews led off, trying to beat Thomas stick side with a deke, but failed to lift the puck high enough on his forehand, catching Thomas' right leg pad. Tyler Seguin followed for Boston and moved in with speed that seemed to handcuff Crawford and he beat him five hole. Kane then moved in and shot for the five hole from 20 feet out, but Thomas was equal to the task. Bergeron followed with a deke attempt but the puck slid off his stick and he never got a shot off. That left it up to Sharp who moved in and fired a shot from a similar spot where Kane had just attempted, which Thomas easily stopped with his left leg pad and that was it.

Overall, Patrick Kane was again the standout for the hawks, however, he didn't get enough support from his teammates. Stalberg returned from injury to replace Hossa, who missed the game due to an "upper body" injury not believed to be serious, however, Stalberg was unable to create much and Carcillo was a non-factor. The line of Toews, Sharp and Brunette was also a non-factor, while Bolland and Bickell combined for the first hawk goal but were also on the ice for the shorthanded goal against.

The hawks powerplay continues to flounder, managing just one shot on net over 3 opportunities on the night and giving up a costly shorthanded goal. Sharp while making a good play on Bickell's goal, did not have a good game - he made a poor choice in passing to Toews instead of shooting when he was in on a 2 on 1, and took a bad penalty that negated a hawk powerplay. Toews, while going over 60% on draws, did little offensively and both he & Sharp were late coming back on Horton's goal, essentially leaving him & Seguin unchecked.

Keith again led the hawks in ice time by a fair margin with over 28 minutes, however, he was badly beaten by Boychuk on the Bruins' 2nd goal and contributed little offensively. He also was beaten on the two-on-one shorthanded goal, allowing the pass to Kelly to get through, though it was a perfectly executed play by Boston (that should have been prevented in the first place by Seabrook making a better decision than shooting from an almost impossible angle and Frolik making a better play to corral the puck).

This was an early season test for the hawks to see how they measure up to the defending Cup champs, and the big difference between these two teams appeared to be that the Bruins not only have lots of speed, skill and size, but they are also more physically aggressive than the Hawks, finishing their checks, driving hard to the net, and in the end, taking a greater toll on their opponents than their opponents did on them. It seemed the hawks were worn down by the end of the game and had no answer back, aside from Kane. While the hawks were missing Hossa, the Bruins were without Krecji, a key contributor to their Cup victory, and McQuaid, a depth defenseman.

The hawks fourth line of Scott, Kruger & Mayers did engage physically for the 10 minutes they were on the ice, and were not overmatched, however, hitting from the rest of forwards, aside from Bickell and Frolik was not noticeable.

The hawks hit the road for their next two games, in Phoenix on Tuesday and Colorado on Thursday in the first of a home & home set with the high-flying Avanlanche.

Hawks overcome bad start, edge Winnipeg 4-3

Joel Quenneville didn't like what he was seeing early - the hawks had no legs & were watching as Winnipeg skated circles around them, with Jim Slater scoring twice on deflections of point shots from in front of the net to put the Jets up 2-0 less than 8 minutes into the game.

That is when coach Q called timeout and in no uncertain terms let his team have it. His message seemed to get through - about a minute later, the hawks managed to get a power play opportunity when Patrick Kane picked up the puck in his own zone in the circle to the left of Emery and blew by a couple of Jets before Tobias Entstrom tripped him up to prevent him from going in all alone. On the ensuing man advantage Kane was the catalyst again, taking a pass from Toews on the right half boards & firing a shot on net which Pavelec stopped, but left a rebound which Andrew Brunette quickly pounced on, lifting it over a sprawled goaltender & the Hawks were back in the game.

Late in the first, it was Kane yet again, this time one-timing a pass from Marion Hossa, who had made a strong move picking up a loose puck at center & beating Tobias Enstrom just inside the blue-line, and then getting a fortuitous bounce off the linesman's skate, giving the hawks a two on one in the Jets zone. Hossa then found Kane with a nice cross-ice pass & Kane blew it past Pavelec, who had no chance, and the game was tied.

The Hawks started the game more as spectators than initiators & paid for it. The Jets buzzed around the hawk zone early, carrying the play. Just under five minutes in, Montador took a hit in the corner to move the puck up the right boards to Toews, however the hawk captain failed to clear the zone, with Johnny Oduya intercepting the clear attempt & sidestepping Patrick Sharp to move into the slot, firing a shot that was tipped by Jim Slater in front, who had gained position on Montador. Ray Emery, seeing his first start of the season had no chance, 1-0 Winnipeg.

A couple of minutes later, the Jets aggressiveness paid more dividends, as on a dump-in to the corner, Slater checked Keith off the puck, gaining possession and keeping it in the zone for the Jets. More strong forechecking by Slater & Tanner Glass on Nick Leddy eventually won them the puck behind the hawk net and Glass skated with it to the opposite corner before finding Ron Hainsey at the right point. As the puck was headed to the point, Slater moved to the front of the net unchecked and was able to again deflect the shot from the point past Emery who had no chance, 2-0 Jets. With the Jets outshooting the hawks 5-0 at that point, and up 2-0, cue the timeout by Q, that turned the momentum around and by the end of the first, the hawks had outshot Winnipeg 11-9.

The hawks carried the momentum into the second period, with the Kane, Hossa & Carcillo line again involved. Just 33 seconds in, Nick Leddy pinched in from the right point to keep the puck deep in the zone, with Kane dropping back to cover for Leddy at the right point. Kane then stopped a Jets clear attempt and fed Hossa in the right corner. Hossa then moved back to the right half boards, with Leddy retreating to the point while Kane moved toward the right corner. Hossa fed Leddy, and then set himself up to take the return pass and one-timed it from 40 feet with Carcillo in front and the hawks had their first lead of the game 3-2.

About a minute later, Steve Montador nailed Evander Kane with a big open ice hit at center - the only problem was E. Kane was nowhere near the puck and Montador was sent off for interference. On the ensuing face-off, Bolland won the draw, but was high-sticked on the ensuing scrum, possibly by teammate Duncan Keith. Ray Emery made a great save on Andrew Ladd at the end of the shift, sprawling to get his stick down to stop the puck as he had gone down & was off to the side of net after making the original save on Ladd, who then tried to stuff in the rebound. Later in the Jets powerplay, Kyle Wellwood tried a wraparound that Emery stopped, however, he was unable to control the puck and both Wellwood and Evander Kane took pokes at it. The referee blew the play dead when it appeared that Emery had it, and waved off a would-be goal after E. Kane raised his arms, signaling a goal, as the puck appeared to have crossed the line behind Emery. Video review supported the call on the ice - the whistle had been blown before the puck entered the net - no goal & still 3-2 Chicago.

Shortly after the hawks killed the penalty, they struck again, this time started by a nice rush from Frolik, who started deep in his own zone, blew past Alex Burmistrov in the Jets zone, creating a 2 on 1, then patiently outwaiting Burmistrov to beautifully set up Bickell alone in front, who was stoned by Pavelec. Bogosian's attempted clear hit the back of the net, where Bickell beat Oduya to the puck and fed Bolland who was streaking in on the left side, and one timed a shot that Pavelec got a piece of, but it trickled in behind him & into the net, 4-2 Chicago.

Shortly afterwards, Wellwood took a minor penalty in the hawk zone for tripping Duncan Keith and the hawks were headed back to the powerplay with a chance to really take control, however they failed to seriously threaten. Late in the powerplay, Marion Hossa took a pass from Seabrook at the right half boards, then immediately tried to return the puck back to Seabrook, however Jim Slater had moved in and intercepted it & quickly moved it up to center to Wellwood coming out of the box. Wellwood was in alone, but stumbled as he moved over the hawk blueline, thus allowing Seabrook to recover and check him without giving up a good scoring chance or taking a penalty on the play.

The hawks caught a break a few minutes later when Daniel Carcillo, playing in his first game as a hawk after serving a two game suspension received with Philadelphia in the playoffs, appeared to take a high hit, as his head flung backwards, causing the referees to call MacLean for an elbow. Replays showed that MacLean hit Carcillo in the chest - nowhere near his head. The hawks didn't threaten on the powerplay and Winnipeg seemed to gain some momentum from the kill as only seconds after the penalty expired, Wellwood tapped in a rebound from between his legs that Emery actually helped knock into his own net as he was scrambling to try to get back into position after a scramble around the hawk net off a Hainsey rush.

The hawks Rusty Olesz then took a high-sticking penalty in the offensive zone less than half a minute later and the momentum seemed to be changing. The hawks managed to kill off the penalty without any damage and finished off the period with neither team seriously threatening.

In the third, the hawks had several good chances, but Pavelec was sharp, appearing to gain confidence with each save. The jets created some chances as well, with Emery equal to the task, with his best save on Ladd who was set up with a clear shot in the slot. The Jets pulled their goaltender with about a minute left, but weren't able to capitalize as the hawks held on for their 2nd home win in as many tries.

Overall, Patrick Kane was key tonight - he single-handedly brought the hawks back into the game with a dazzling rush that drew a penalty and then drew the primary assist on the hawks first goal and scored the tying goal on a one-timer nicely set up by Hossa. He won 10 of 14 faceoffs and a +2 rating, coming back hard on the defensive side to support his defensemen.

His linemates also had strong games, with Hossa looking motivated to make an impact, which he did, scoring a goal and setting up Kane for another. Carcillo made a nice play to spring Hossa at center on the 2nd goal, and was also effective in front on Hossa's one timer, and while his "sell-job" on dramatically moving his head back suddenly worked to draw an elbow penalty, you can bet that the officials won't be impressed on review of the play. It leaves the door wide open for Carcillo to not draw a penalty call on a play where he may legitimately be fouled...and thus hurt his team. The hawks don't need to resort to crap like that - the fact they seem to tolerate it will surely come back to haunt them this season.

Dave Bolland again made his presence felt with a goal which turned out to be the winner.

The game also marked the return of Andrew Ladd & Dustin Byfuglien to Chicago - both were noticeable, however, neither picked up a point, tho Byfuglien went +2. (An interesting tidbit is that Andrew Ladd is renting Jonathan Toews' Winnipeg condo while he finds a place).

Next up for the hawks, hosting the defending Stanley Cup Champs Boston, who are off to a bit of a rough start, at 1-3 so far. Corey Crawford will likely return to the net, assuming he is 100%. This should be a good test for the hawks, who are looking to take back the Cup from its current holder.

Hawks rebound at home, beat Stars, 5-2

The Blackhawks showed more drive & determination tonight, especially around the Dallas net and it paid early dividends on the powerplay, with Andrew Brunette at the top of the crease knocking in the rebound from Patrick Sharp's shot from the left circle to put the hawks up 1-0 midway through the first.

Perhaps the extra juice was due to the insertion of Dave Bolland, John Scott & Marcus Kruger into the lineup, (and/or the replacement of Lehtonen with Raycroft in the Dallas net) but whatever the case, the Hawks did what they needed to do to take control of things early.

On the goal, Seabrook did a nice job of keeping the puck in the zone at the blueline just out of the reach of Jamie Benn, moving the puck back to Kane on the right boards, and catching both Benn & Eriksson, who was streaking to center in anticipation of Benn beating Seabrook, out of position. Kane then found Sharp with a cross-ice pass. Sharp's first shot/pass attempt was actually blocked by Robidas, but the puck came right back to Sharp who got the second shot through, with Brunette & Toews outnumbering Fistric, the lone Star defenseman back, ready to pounce on the rebound with Raycroft down.

The Hawks gained confidence from the early pp goal, outplaying the Stars and outshooting them 10-2 in the first, with both teams taking 3 penalties each, including a pair of offsetting fighting majors after former hawk Jake Dowell challenged new hawk Jamal Mayers for hitting Sheldon Souray. Both players landed a couple before Mayers took Dowell down to the ice, without any major damage done.

Shortly afterwards, Sharp misfired on a pass attempt deep in his own zone, turning over the puck to Radek Dvorak who quickly fed Steve Ott all alone in front of Crawford but could not beat him low five hole.

A few minutes later, Bolland's wrap-around attempt deflected high and hit off the cross-bar before Raycroft smothered the puck. Late in the first, Marcus Kruger was caught holding the stick of Wandell, and after Dallas controlled the puck for about 40 seconds on the delayed penalty Kruger went off, however, the Stars powerplay failed to threaten. As the first ended, Larson took a run at Bolland, who turned the tables & knocked him down, prompting Burish to get involved - a scrum ensued but no damage done.

The Hawks continued carrying the play to start the 2nd, Bolland getting an early chance on a 3 on 2, with Robidas without a stick, but Raycroft was equal to the task. Hossa followed up that shift by taking a stretch pass from Keith to move down the right side for a good shot at Raycroft who made the save and left a big rebound however, no hawk could get to it.

A few minutes later, Steve Ott lined up rookie Brandon Saad at the red line, and knocked him down with a solid hit, which prompted Mayers to skate up to Ott as play went on and have a few words with him. The hawks got a powerplay shortly afterwards, but failed to convert, with Hossa's cross-crease pass not connecting with Bolland at the end of the penalty.

A few minutes later, Bolland moved into the Dallas zone after a pass from Kruger, and let a seemingly harmless shot go toward net that beat Raycroft high glove side - Raycroft may have not picked up the puck originally as Robidas's attempted to stick check the puck away from Bolland just as he was shooting. 2-0 Chicago.

A few minutes later, Toews was called for slashing Ott's stick out of his hands in the offensive zone, however the Dallas powerplay again failed to seriously threaten, though Robidas did flatten Jamal Mayers with a big hit at the hawk blueline as Mayers was attempting to clear the zone. As the penalty ended, the hawks gained control deep in their own zone & Seabrook with a heads up play found a wide open Toews coming out of the box and deep behind the Dallas defense. A perfect lead pass and Toews made no mistake beating Raycroft low five hole and the hawks looked home and cooled up 3-0.

However, just over a minute later, the Stars responded with Fiddler & Burish combining on a give & go passing play that sent Fiddler in on the left side and he beat Crawford high on a sharp angle to put the Stars back into the game with only their 6th shot on goal.

The hawks got a late powerplay, and controlled the play in the Dallas zone for the first minute when Steve Ott high-sticked Sharp at the blueline, to put the Stars down two men. Quenneville called a timeout to give his top pp unit a chance to stay out for the 5 on 3, however the hawks failed to seriously threaten, partially fanning on a couple of point shot attempts and allowing Raycroft to see & catch another shot that did manage to connect, not giving a chance at a rebound.

Early in the third, Brendan Morrow seemed to hurt himself throwing a check on Seabrook in the corner of the hawk zone - he stayed down for a moment and was later seen grasping his arm on the bench in some distress, but did return to the game.

The hawks struck again 5 minutes into the 3rd on a 2 on 1, with Sharp firing a high shot from the right side into the top right corner, to give the hawks another 3 goal lead, 4-1. The play was started by Montador blocking a Goligoski point shot in the hawk zone, Montador then tried to feed Sharp breaking at the blueline with Goligoski right there, however Sharp managed to break free of Goligoski's check (which prompted a delay penalty call), and created the 2 on 1 with Brunette. Sharp used Brunette as a decoy and fired home his first of the season, 4-1 Chicago.

A few minutes later, Sharp took a cross-checking penalty, and the Stars finally struck on the powerplay with Ott deflecting a second shot attempt from Souray past Crawford to put the Stars back within 2 with half the 3rd left to play. The hawks looked like they had the penalty effectively killed, but Mayers was unable to clear the puck late in the kill, being checked off it by Benn, who fed Souray at the point. Kruger bravely fell in front of Souray's first shot, but the puck lay there for Souray and his second shot was tipped by Ott past Crawford for a pp goal. Kruger was obviously in some discomfort afterwards but did not appear to miss a shift.

On the next shift, Sharp took another penalty on Vern Fiddler, appearing to catch him with a partially blindside hit, however, it was called tripping, with Sharp also picking up a misconduct on the play. Fiddler stayed down for a moment and was slow to get up, but would remain in the game.

The Stars however could not seriously threaten on the powerplay and shortly after it expired they were caught with too many men. The hawks created a couple of good chances, with Bolland deflecting a Montador point shot forcing Raycroft to make a good save and later Hossa was sent in alone in the slot by a nice Kruger lead but couldn't beat Raycroft.

After the penalty kill, Dallas pressed in the hawk zone to try to pull within one, and created a couple of chances, however, Crawford was solid in making a couple of big saves. Like Quenneville the night before, Dallas pulled their goalie with over 2 minutes left, however the hawks were able to gain possession in their own zone with Bickell sending it up to Frolik who with Bolland skated in on a 2 on 1 from center. Frolik unselfishly fed Bolland for the empty netter as the hawks clinched it.

With under a minute left, Burish took run at Jamal Mayers, but got the worst of it, losing his helmet in the process. He then went after Kruger with a cross-check at the other blueline, prompting Mayers to go after him, however, Souray intervened & grabbed Mayers, which quickly resulted in a scrum in the dying seconds at the benches, however no damage was done. Burish was given a roughing penalty & misconduct for his trouble.

Overall, the hawks responded well to the previous loss, though it would have been interesting to see how they would have done against Lehtonen rather than Raycroft. Toews, Sharp, Bolland & Brunette hitting the scoresheet was a welcome sight, and Montador & O'Donnell also picked up their first points as hawks in solid efforts from both. Montador looked more steady & relaxed, getting 15 minutes of ice time, which helped Quenneville cut back Keith's workload from the previous night.

It seemed clear that Bolland's return provided a spark, while the rest of the team followed suit in a solid team win. The hawks get to enjoy the victory for a few days, until Winnipeg visits on Thursday with Ladd & Byfuglien's first visit to Chicago since they were traded.

Hawks drop season opener in Dallas, 2-1

In the much anticipated season opener, the hawks worked hard, created chances and also looked a bit rusty and disjointed at times in losing 2-1 to the Stars.

Goaltending was the story of the game, as you would expect with over 70 total shots and only a 2-1 scoreline. Corey Crawford played well, certainly well enough to win most nights, but Kari Lehtonen was a bit better, stopping the hawks first 37 shots before losing his shutout with 13 seconds left.

While Lehtonen was solid, he was also helped by hawks forwards' reluctance to drive hard to the net and subject themselves to some physical abuse & punishment from Stars defensemen. Too often, the hawks were content to stay well away from the top of Lehtonen's crease, even on the power play, and take shots from the perimeter, that were often right into the body of Lehtonen, not really testing him.

There was not enough physical initiation & engagement from the hawks to finish off their scoring chances - it was like they were prepared to go the distance, but not the extra mile to the score the dirty, ugly goal that is often the only way to beat a fundamentally sound & seemingly unflappable goaltender who was gaining in confidence as the game went a long.

Meanwhile, the hawks were in a giving mood, Keith mishandling a puck at the point early in the first, which allowed an aggressive Jamie Benn a breakaway chance on Crawford, who made a nice blocker save going to his right. Less than a minute into the second, Keith tried to make a hard clear from behind his own net along the right side boards - unfortunately Hossa was for some reason at the blueline apparently covering Goligoski, while his vacated position along the right boards was filled by Mike Ribeiro who then fed Alex Goligoski stepping into the slot (now vacated by Hossa to go after Ribeiro on the right boards) and Goligoski fired a wrister past Crawford to the put the Stars up 1-0.

The Stars then got into some penalty trouble, taking 3 minors in the period (and fourth consecutive in the game to that point) and while the hawks did manage to get many of their 22 total shots in the 2nd on the powerplays, most were shot right at Lehtonen, making it easier for him. The hawks best chance was actually at 5 on 5, with Frolik (who replaced Saad on Toews' line to start the 2nd) being set up by a nice cross-ice pass by Sharp, giving him a partial open net to shoot at, yet Frolik missed the target altogether. Later Brandon Pirri was set up in the slot nicely by Bickell on a two on one, but the rookie fired it over the net.

On the Hawks 3rd powerplay of the period, Hossa behind the play was called for a retaliatory slash. Having had four straight powerplays, Hossa should have known that the refs might call a minor indiscretion, but nevertheless he took the hawks off the powerplay and unwittingly set up the Stars next goal. On the ensuing 4 on 4 faceoff in the hawks zone, Brandon Pirri lost the draw, with the puck going back to the point and Sheldon Souray blasted a hard shot that Crawford couldn't smother and Benn was left alone (by Hjalmarsson) in front to flip the rebound over him to put the Stars up 2-0, late in the 2nd.

Quenneville started the third period with more line juggling, putting Bickell with Toews & Sharp, and replacing Brunette with Frolik on Kane & Hossa's line, however it was Dallas that actually carried most of the early play.

Hawks defensive zone coverage was also lacking. Crawford dropped a knuckleball 40 foot shot from Ott and had to make a rebound save on his own defensemen Lepisto, who unintentionally backhanded a shot on net, before falling over backwards. On the ensuing play, Lepisto failed to cover Ott, who redirected a point shot forcing Crawford to make a difficult save. Benn then crunched Hjalmarsson against the corner glass, cracking it open and causing a brief delay. Fortunately Hjalmarsson didn't appear cut on the play.

Quenneville had seen enough, and put Kane back with Sharp & Toews, with Brunette joining Frolik & Hossa, and the hawks started to respond, by carrying the play again. In fact Brunette, Frolik & Hossa controlled play in the Dallas zone for a full minute halfway thru the 3rd, but failed to connect.

The next Sharp-Kane-Toews shift led to more offensive zone pressure, with Ott going after Sharp at the end of the shift, causing a scrum.

With about five minutes left, Keith took a heavy hit from Ott, then proceeded to put his hand around Ott and fell on top of him, drawing a holding penalty. The hawks managed to kill off the penalty without any damage, and in fact Mayers even managed to create an offensive chance for himself after blocking a pass at center and moving in on the left side, but Lehtonen managed to get his left arm on the rising shot and deflect it wide on a difficult save. At the end of the penalty kill, Sharp took a Toews zone clear at center ice and moved past Daley & in on Lehtonen but lost the puck on his backhand as he crashed into Lehtonen & the net.

Quenneville pulled Crawford with about 2:30 to go, but the hawks were unable to keep the puck in the offensive zone for long and spent most of the next minute or so desperately trying to keep the puck out of their empty net. The hawks did finally manage to keep some offensive zone pressure in the final minute, and after a couple of chances, Kane found Leddy moving in from the left point and he rifled a shot that beat Lehtonen high to the glove side with 13 seconds left.

The hawks managed to gain control & move into the Dallas zone off the ensuing center ice faceoff, but Hossa's blind back pass for Sharp missed the mark and went to center ice, effectively killing the clock.

Overall, the Hawks didn't play poorly, and perhaps against a lesser goalie, they may have scored more & won the game, but when expectations are high, and the opponent is considered a "lightweight", this was a disappointing way to start the season.

Observations on the new hawks:

Brandon Saad was not a factor in the limited time he saw - he did make a nice defensive play in the first to take the puck away from Michael Ryder in the hawk zone and skated it down into the Dallas zone, allowing the hawks to change, and later in the 2nd managed to get off a shot that seemed to catch Lehtonen off guard, but that was about it.

The other Brandon rookie, namely Pirri was more noticeable offensively, getting an excellent chance on a 2 on 1 feed from Bickell, but fired it wide. He picked up a secondary assist on the lone hawk goal, feeding Kane at the side boards. He also lost the face-off on the 4 on 4, that directly led to the 2nd Dallas goal.

Brunette - didn't get much accomplished with Kane & Hossa. Kane was his usual dangerous self throughout the game, while Hossa was his usual frustrating, underachieving self.

Mayers - created a good shorthanded chance for himself and also had a few words with Morrow earlier in the game when the Dallas captain went after a hawk Dman.

Montador - saw limited action under 10 minutes, including a shift at forward. Surprisingly, he also got a shift in the final minute.

Lepisto - less than 10 minutes on defense, paired with O'Donnell - looked a bit shaky at times, including backhanding a Crawford rebound right back at him.

O'Donnell - he is slow, but we knew that (& if you didn't before, you certainly saw it when a Dallas forward streaked past him early in the game). Still, he brought a physical presence, moving in to defend teammates in a scrum, which is a big reason he is on the team.

Olesz - hardly noticeable - I'm not sure why he is on the team, especially with his salary & cap hit. The hawks could use a 4th liner who has energy & makes an impact with his physicality - they certainly don't have it in this guy nor does he present any offensive challenges to opponents.

Other noteables, Bickell threw a couple of big hits and made a nice play to set up Pirri with limited ice time.

Toews - good effort, but a slow start to seasons from a production standpoint seems to be the norm for him.

Sharp - looked no worse for wear from his appendectomy - may have lacked on timing and endurance a bit.

Keith - looked more like last year's Keith than the Norris one...

Seabrook - seemed out of it at times. I have to wonder how the multiple concussions & hits to the head are affecting his game.

Leddy - perhaps the hawks best Dman on the night.

Hawk rookie forwards find scoring touch, but defensive lapses cost them, lose to Ottawa rookies 6-5

Game 2 of the 3 game rookie tournament in Oshawa this afternoon saw the hawks forwards get untracked offensively, but the defense was unable to stop Ottawa and the hawks dropped their 2nd game within 19 hours, in a wide-open affair.

There were 4 lineup changes for the hawks from last night. Scratched skaters were Philippe Paradis (with a suspected concussion suffered in last night's game), Chris DiDomenico (who scored the hawks' first goal vs. Toronto) and Dylan Olsen, replaced by Paul Zanette, and invitees Peter Leblanc and Neil Manning. Johan Mattson replaced Mac Carruther in goal.

The hawks again gave up the first goal, early in the first on a scramble in front, but they quickly got that one back, with Leblanc moving in from the left side fired a shot that beat Sens rookie goalie Matej Machovsky. Later in the first, the hawks got a powerplay, but some nonchalant play by the hawk defenseman Lavin retrieving the puck behind his own net & some aggressive fore-checking by Ottawa penalty killer Corey Cowick lead to a turnover, with the puck heading toward the crease. Hawk goalie Mattsson was slow in covering the left side of the net and as he slid over, he actually knocked the puck into his own net with his left leg pad, which made it 2-1 Ottawa.

Hawks quickly responded again on the same power-play, with Brandon Saad again connecting for his 2nd goal of the tourney (& 3rd point), standing just off to the right of the net and flipping in a rebound to make it 2-2, with Jimmy Hayes creating traffic in front & earning an assist on the pp goal.

Saad struck yet again late in the first, with his 3rd goal of the tourney, to put the hawks up 3-2 at the end of the first, outshooting the Sens rookies 17-12.

Ottawa came out flying in the 2nd, and with the help of a couple of power play opportunities, seemed to wear down the hawks and converted on one of their chances, with Sens Dman Stephane DaCosta scoring the natural hat trick - the 2nd with a blast from the point that beat Mattson high stick side on the powerplay to make it 4-3, and followed that up shortly afterwards with another slapper this time low stick side, where Mattsson was apparently screened, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration as Ottawa took a 5-3 lead.

Hawks managed to get a late powerplay of their own in the period, and this time it was Jimmy Hayes making a nice move from close in, lifting a backhander past Machovsky to pull the hawks within 1, at 5-4. Saad picked up another assist on the play, giving him 3 points on the game, and 5 in 5 periods. He should have had yet another assist when he made a beautiful cross-ice pass to a hawk all alone in front, who simply missed getting his stick on it to steer it into a yawning cage.

The third period saw the checking get tighter, as both teams tried to clamp down on the scoring chances that were abundant in the first two periods. Both teams nevertheless managed to hit iron, and late in the third, the Sens struck again, hemming the hawks in their own zone and seemingly putting the game out of reach.

But less than a minute later, Jimmy "Purple" Hayes found himself high in the slot with the puck, and after taking a quick look, fired a wrister that beat Machovsky for his second of the game, making it 6-5. The Hawks then pressed again in the Ottawa zone, but lost control of the puck and Phillip Danault attempting to swipe it away from a Sens player, caught his skates with his stick, knocking him down & was assessed a minor for tripping with a minute left.

Ottawa closed out the game by keeping the puck in the hawk zone to kill off the clock.

Danault had left the game in the 2nd period after taking a stick in the mouth, apparently from his own player as no penalty was called on the play. It appeared that Danault lost some teeth on the play, with blood dripping on the ice. After a minute, he got up & skated off, with Joe Lavin appearing to retrieve a lost chicklet from the ice and following them to the bench to give it to the trainer. Danault missed the rest of the second for repairs, but returned to start the third. (His parents were sitting behind me & his father indicated it wasn't the first tooth he has lost lol).

Observations on the game.

This was a more wide open game than last night - more emphasis on skating and not nearly as physical, which probably suited both teams more. The Sens have some excellent rookies as evidenced by winning the AHL Calder Cup championship last year and shutting out the Pens rookies 4-0 yesterday afternoon.

Brandon Saad continues to be the story of the tourney for the hawks - another excellent offensive performance - he was a threat every time he was on the ice, and produced whoever his linemates were. Hawks coaches continued juggling their lines throughout the game, giving different guys opportunities to play with Saad & Hayes.

Jimmy Hayes is going to be a very productive NHL forward - Great size at 6'5, but he can skate (not quite Viktor Stalberg speed, but very quick acceleration) and he has fantastic hands that he showed again today. How Burke could have given up on this guy is baffling, tho I suspect that Hayes doesn't play it rough & tough enough for Burke. I would like to see him use his size more & be more physical throwing his weight around out there to create more space (and if he did, he would be a dominating player), but it doesn't seem to be his game - tho I doubt he is a pushover - he doesn't go looking for trouble, but doesn't appear to be afraid to stand up for himself or teammates either.

Danault had another solid performance - he's played better than MacNeil, who seems to be having some trouble adjusting (or perhaps he was overrated?). MacNeil made at least 3 blind passes that were all picked off and was not an offensive threat, while Danault seemed to have a nose for the puck and the areas to be in offensively. His skating seemed more effortless than MacNeil and he seemed more determined in his play, looking more comfortable offensively. I don't have the plus minus stats & took more note of the the hawks offensive performance than who was responsible for the goals against, so perhaps MacNeil might have been better defensively of the two, but right now, I'd take Danault. That said, both guys are only 18 & I don't expect they'll be playing in Chicago for a couple of years.

Toews didn't seem to get as much ice time today - he didn't get on the scoresheet, but when he was out there, he went all out - just didn't get that much accomplished offensively.

Gilbert & Froese were more noticeable than last night, showing some flashes of ability, though can't say they made a big impact.

The two invitees in the lineup, Leblanc & Manning also put in fairly solid performances - with Leblanc scoring the first goal & Manning showing some good skating & mobility at the back end, tho didn't look that big.

Paul Zanette, also in his first game of the tourney, had some decent shifts, but had limited ice time and impact.

On defense, Joe Lavin looked fairly steady, tho he did have some lapses, particularly on the play that led to the shorthanded goal against. He's a decent skater & puck mover, and is a fairly aggressive defender (as all hawk defensemen appeared to be) in terms of challenging the puck carrier in the hawk zone.

Danis-Pepin may appear as a physically intimidating presence at 6'6, but as mentioned before, he's not overly physical and while a decent skater for his size, his puck handling needs some work - to me, he seems like an average 5'11 defenseman playing in a 6'6 body.

It was hard to pick out any stalwarts from among the hawk dmen - they seemed fairly interchangeable - though giving up six isn't going to help any of their causes.

Johan Mattsson looked shaky on a couple of goals, especially the own goal he knocked into his own net with his left leg pad when sliding across the crease, though he also made some nice saves on difficult chances, and picked up a delay of game penalty when he played the puck in the trapezoid area, tho seemed to dispute the call. He also seemed to show his frustration after the 5th goal, a low point shot by DaCosta which he apparently didn't see - something which I'm not sure his teammates or coaches would have been that impressed.

Overall, another entertaining game, well-played for the most part with some lapses by the defense & goaltending that ended up costing them.

The two guys that have really stood out so far have been Brandon Saad & Jimmy Hayes with an honorable mention to Phillip Danault. These are three guys to keep an eye on in the hawks regular camp.

In a nice gesture, there was a moment of silence prior to the US National Anthem in memory of the September 11th victims back in the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.