Recap
The Blackhawks defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 6-4 on Sunday night. This was the first game between the teams since Phoenix eliminated the Hawks from the playoffs last season. The Hawks went 2-0 on their first road trip of the season.
The Coyotes got on the scoreboard first when they benefitted from a turnover from the Hawks defense. Damian Moss put the puck in the back of the net on a bang bang play. The Hawks would tie up the game halfway through the first period on the power play. Patrick Kane would send a pass to Dave Bolland who would one time it top shelf. The score would be 1-1 at the end of the first period. In the second period Antoine Vermette would score off of a rebound after winning a draw in the offensive zone. But the Hawks would take control of the game after that as they scored 4 unanswered goals. The first goal would tie the game on a beautiful play as Johnny Oduya hit Bolland with a pass from the defensive zone. Bolland made a pass through a defenseman’s legs to Patrick Sharp who ripped a shot past the blocker of Mike Smith.
The Hawks penalty killing which has been superb so far did the job again late in the period. Marian Hossa who sprung free from the penalty box on a breakaway but was stopped by Smith. But 15 seconds later Hossa would put a shot in the back of the net to take the lead for good. The Hawks would double the lead 50 seconds later when Viktor Stalberg took a pass from Bryan Bickell and rocketed a shot past Smith. The third period would feature more craziness though. Hossa would score 14 seconds into the period as his shot trickled in through the legs of Smith who was hugging the post. The Coyotes would come back one more time though as Martin Hanzal scored on a rebound that Ray Emery left out in the air. Shane Doan would get his first goal of the season 50 seconds later as he roofed a backhand past Emery. Joel Quenneville would call his timeout to try to regain momentum. This turned out to be a brilliant call as Bolland would score again 22 seconds later on a shot that flew up in the air and fell behind Smith as he tried to snatch it. All of this scoring happened in the first six minutes. From there the Hawks cruised to victory for the rest of the third period.
What it means
This is the first time the Hawks are 2-0 since the 95-96 season. The Hawks will attempt to go to 3-0 for the first time in 40 years against the St. Louis Blues in the Hawks home opener on Tuesday night.
3 stars of the game
3. Shane Doan- Doan was his usual pesky self who brings the physical pain on every shift. Doan had a sweet move on his goal with his backhand wrist shot. He finished with 1 goal and 1 assist.
2. Dave Bolland- Bolland had a great game and looks like he is fitting in on the second line. Bolland had 2 goals and 1 assist.
1. Marian Hossa- Hossa is on a pace to score 96 goals this season. But in all seriousness Hossa is making up for lost time and on fire right now. He scored 2 goals again is the main player to get the puck to on offense right now.
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