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Blackhawks hopes live on after shooutout
By TonyH | March 31, 2008
It’s looking like a real shootout
BLACKHAWKS 5, BLUE JACKETS 4: Kane’s winner sets stage for dramatic final week
BY LEN ZIEHM lziehm@suntimes.com
There’s still hope.
The Blackhawks rallied from deficits of 3-1 and 4-3 to beat the pesky Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in a shootout Sunday and keep their playoff hopes alive with three games left.
Nashville started the day in possession of the eighth Western Conference playoff berth. The Predators lost in overtime to Detroit but upped their point total to 87, three more than the Hawks. Vancouver, which visited Calgary late Sunday, and idle Edmonton had 86 points.
The Hawks have home games Wednesday against Detroit and Friday against Nashville before closing the regular season Sunday in Detroit. While the odds are long, the Hawks won’t go down without a fight.
”Winning was huge,” forward Patrick Sharp said. ”The guys talked after the second period, and we realized that if we didn’t play a good third, our season was over. We rallied behind each other. That shows the character of our team.”
Rookie Patrick Kane, 19, was the man who got it done in the end. Kane was the only successful shooter in the shootout. He has become one of the league’s best at it.
”I don’t know what it is,” Kane said. ”Last year [in juniors], I was 4-for-10. Now I’m 7-for-9 in the NHL.”
It was a particularly big game for Kane, who moved back into a tie with Washington’s Niklas Backstrom for the NHL rookie scoring lead with 66 points. Kane earned his 48th assist on Jonathan Toews’ first-period goal, passing former Hawks greats Denis Savard (1980-81) — now Kane’s coach — and Steve Larmer (1982-83) for the team’s rookie assist record.
”A good feeling,” Kane said. ”It was good to get that out of the way.”
The Hawks won without playing their best before another United Center sellout of 20,885. The Blue Jackets responded to Toews’ goal with three of their own by Andrew Murray, Michael Peca and Nikolai Zherdev.
Jason Williams and Sharp brought the Hawks back to a 3-3 tie after two periods, then Columbus regained the lead on Derek MacKenzie’s goal 3:57 into the third. Yanic Perreault provided the equalizer 10 minutes later, setting the stage for Kane’s shootout heroics.
Plenty of soul-searching between periods made the difference as the Hawks regrouped after a similarly draining 4-3 victory Saturday at St. Louis.
”We used lots of emotion and energy at St. Louis,” Savard said. ”It was tough to get down 3-1, but our guys never gave up. This is a young group and a group that cares. They gutted it out in the end.”
NOTES: The Hawks made one lineup change from Saturday with Yanic Perreault replacing Dave Bolland as the third-line center. Bolland has been battling a sore ankle.
• • The NHL did not order a suspension after reviewing Duncan Keith’s participation in a brawl in the final minute Saturday. Keith played more than 31 minutes Sunday.
• • Jason Williams suffered what coach Denis Savard thought was a charley horse late in the game. His status will be evaluated today.
• • Adam Burish was named the Hawks’ man of the year before the game for his community-service efforts.
Story by: The Chicago Sun Times
Topics: Blackhawks |