Hawks Squawk: Blackhawks Beat the Blues, 3-1

Written By Sarah Spain for Mouthpiece Sports

After a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens last night, the Chicago Blackhawks came out firing at the United Center Wednesday, beating the St. Louis Blues 3-1. The Hawks earned a big two points and, even more importantly, they earned their confidence back.

What a difference a day makes. The very same Chicago Blackhawks team who looked outmatched and outplayed Tuesday night in Montreal came to play Wednesday night, dominating the St. Louis Blues in a 3-0 victory.

On Tuesday night the Hawks were outshot 33-29 and lost 40 of 64 faceoffs. They struggled to get the puck out of their own zone and looked unfocused and uninspired. They were trailing 1-0 just 25 seconds into the game. Montreal fans chanted “Hu-et, Hu-et” as the Hawks’ net-minder got beat again and again.

On Wednesday night the Hawks outshot the Blues 30-17 and won 28 of 49 faceoffs. They kept the pressure on the St. Louis net-minder all night, using crisp passes and aggressive play to keep the puck out of their zone. They were up 2-0 after just 16 minutes of play. Chicago fans chanted “Kha-bby, Kha-bby” as their goalie almost earned a shutout.

It was apparent immediately that the Blackhawks came ot play Wednesday night. Halfway through the first period Chicago had already gotten a number of outstanding looks on net. Blues goalie Chris Mason stood tall throughout, but fans at the United Center could smell blood, as their Hawks finally looked hungry again.

Midway through the period Jonathan Toews slipped it stick side on Mason for his 31st goal of the season. Toews moved the puck from right to left across the goal, eluding two Blues players before sending the puck in under the stick of the Blues’ net-minder.

Toews’ goal broke a seven-period scoring drought for Chicago against Mason. Fans breathed a sign of relief as “Go Johnny Go” chirped out of the speakers—when the Hawks have scored first this season they’ve gone 29-5-4.

Martin Havlat earned an assist on the tally, upping his season points total to 69—a new career high.

With 4:08 remaining in the first period Samuel Pahlsson made it 2-0, notching his first goal as a Chicago Blackhawk. Andrew Ladd made a spectacular pass, picking up the puck behind the goal and feeding Pahlsson for the point-blank shot from the left crease.

The Hawks’ dominance wasn’t limited to offense. Cam Barker had two spectacular diving poke checks to stop breakaways and the rest of the Hawks defensemen did a fantastic job of pushing the puck up the ice and denying St. Louis their chances.

Late in the third period Colin Fraser scored his first goal since Feb. 14, a shorthanded beauty to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead. Fraser picked up the puck near the Blues’ blue line and flipped a backhanded shot past Mason for the score.

Jeff Woywitka scored a throwaway goal with two seconds remaining to ruin Khabby’s shutout, but he couldn’t ruin the night for Chicago, who looked like real competitors again.

The last two times the Hawks faced the Blues they suffered two shutout losses, causing many to think Wednesday’s game would be another disappointing performance from a Chicago team that has been out of sync. Instead, the Hawks came out firing and never let up.

With the win, the Blackhawks earned a big two points to bring them back into fourth place in the Western Conference. The Vancouver Canucks remain in third and the Calgary Flames drop into fifth. Chicago will look to keep their momentum going when they host the Nashville Predators Friday night.