Health & Fitness
Hossa, Bolland Lead Blackhawks to a Win in the Desert
The Blackhawks get a big win in the desert to run their points streak to four games.
If there was any question as to who the two best players for the Blackhawks have been in the early part of the season, the answers were clear Tuesday night.
Marian Hossa and Dave Bolland led the Blackhawks in a 5-2 win over the Coyotes in Phoenix.
Hossa returned from missing the Bruins game with an upper body injury to get the Hawks on the board with a 5-on-3 power play tally late in the first period. He had another quick release on a low, on-the-ice shot that beat Coyotes goaltender Jason LaBarbera.
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The Coyotes tied it up in the first minute of the second, but the Blackhawks bounced right back, with Jonathan Toews scoring by rushing the net and beating LaBarbera to covering the puck.
Phoenix tied the score again in a few minutes, but a mere 48 seconds later, Jamal Mayers had a beautiful deflection off a Duncan Keith shot from the point. It was Mayers' first goal as a Blackhawk and gave the team their third lead of the game.
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After two periods, our boys were out shooting the Coyotes 27-9 but only held onto the one goal lead Mayers had provided.
That tenuous score held until early in the third when Dave Bolland scored a back breaking, unassisted, short-handed goal. He stole the puck right at the blue line with a deft little poke check, picked it up, and rocketed a slap shot past LaBarbera to give the Blackhawks a little breathing room at 4-2.
Bolland showed up again on the score sheet later in the third with an assist on Bryan Bickell's second goal of the season, which put the Blackhawks ahead 5-2.
They finished the game out-shooting the Coyotes 35-16. So while Crawford should get credit for looking sharp despite limited action, the defense was suffocating. Allowing only 16 shots in a game, especially on the road, is a real achievement in sticking to the system and allowing the game plan to work. This should be the blueprint Hawks play every night.
By the way, for anyone that watched the game or listened on radio, it was evident that the Hawks had a strong fan contingent on hand last night. Every time they scored, you heard or saw a large number of fans cheering. That has to be a great feeling for the road team to have that kind of support. Keep it up Blackhawks fans!
Next up for our team is a home and home series against the Colorado Avalanche, with the Blackhawks visiting Denver on Thursday and hosting the Avs on Saturday night at the UC.
