A triumphant return
In first game back from injury, Toews gives power play a jolt
Apparently all it took to get the Blackhawks' power play working was the return of Jonathan Toews.
The team captain returned from a six-game layoff to recover from a concussion and was on the ice for two third-period goals with the man advantage. Toews scored the second of the two, and they led to a solid 4-1 victory Monday over the Los Angeles Kings at the United Center.
(AP)
Until the third-period explosion, the Hawks had converted on three of their previous 33 power plays, a streak stretching back to the Oct. 15.
It was 1-1 when Troy Brouwer scored on the first power play 93 seconds into the third period. Toews' goal followed at 5:04, thanks to a good bounce off the boards.
''I was coming out of the corner, and the puck happened to pop out,'' Toews said. ''For the first game back it was nice to get a break like that.''
Andrew Ebbett's first goal as a Hawk -- he was picked up on waivers from Anaheim on Oct. 17 -- completed a big third period that provided an encouraging start to a four-game homestand.
The Hawks started the season 7-3-1 but were 1-2-1 in four games entering Monday. The power-play unit was 2-for-20 in those games and 4-for-35 at home, ranking 28th in the league in that category until going 2-for-3 on Monday.
''A lot of the games we lost the last couple weeks were low-scoring games, and we struggled on the power play so that could have been the difference in those games,'' Toews said.
Troy Brouwer was on the scoresheet more than Toews, getting two assists in addition to his game-winner. Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp also assisted twice.
In addition to regaining Toews, who played more than 19 minutes and won 13 of 20 faceoffs, the Hawks benefitted from the return of fourth-line tough guy Ben Eager. Out 13 games with a concussion, he got into a brief first-period skirmish -- an quick indication that he'll be a physical presence again.
''Both those guys can help us in a lot of ways,'' coach Joel Quenneville said of Toews and Eager.
''It's never fun to sit out,'' Eager said, ''and it seemed like I'd been out forever. I'd just been showing up at the rink and not doing much, so I was excited to be back.''
And the Hawks were excited to have him against a team that was 3-0-1 in its previous four road games.
''They're a good team, and we played a very good game across the board,'' Quenneville said. ''This is an important stretch for us, an opportunity to get some momentum back.''
The Hawks, 0-1-1 in two road games last week after a five-day break, got on the scoreboard first on a pretty play. Keith retrieved the puck in the Hawks' zone, sent it to Brouwer streaking down the middle and Brouwer shoved it to John Madden on the right side. His backhander got by Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick 64 seconds into the second period.
Anze Kopitar's 14th goal and league-leading 28th point tied the game 9:10 into the period. The play started with Drew Doughty shooting from the blue line. Hawks' goaltender Cristobal Huet was screened, but the puck hit him. That created an easy rebound for Kopitar to poke the puck in.
It was Huet's first career win over the Kings. He had lost two starts and had a 4.03 goals-against average against them before stopping 17 of 18 shots Monday.
BLACKHAWKS 4, KINGS 1