Blackhawks-Stars: Dallas Gets Kaned by Chicago's Onslaught

When the Blackhawks embarked on their road trip out west, it was widely said that if they could come back with three wins, it would be considered a successful trip. After the first two games against the Coyotes and Stars, it looks like they could get a lot more than three wins.

The Hawks defeated the Stars 6-3 Thursday night, getting two goals from Patrick Kane and another stellar performance from newly-minted starter Nikolai Khabibulin. Martin Havlat, Ben Eager, Kris Versteeg, and Brian Campbell also added goals for the victorious Blackhawks.

Versteeg’s impact went far beyond just his one goal, however. He also had two shots bounce off the posts, and he also had two assists, including one on the power play. He did all of this with only 13 minutes of ice time.

Ben Eager also had a fantastic night, with an assist in addition to his goal. He also had a +2 in the game.

The team managed to keep their noses clean in the game, getting only two penalties in the game. They did allow one of those to result in a power play goal, yet another black eye to that unit that has allowed a slew of them in the last three games.

Another item of note from the game was the absence of Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Sopel. Rumor has it that they are on their way out of town to make way for Capitals C Michael Nylander, who has been rumored for about a week to be on his way to Chicago.

The game didn’t start out ideally for the Blackhawks. They gave up shot after shot to a relentless Stars attack. The boys from Dallas also dominated the Hawks in physicality, most notably on a hit that left Adam Burish crumbled to the ice after a head first check into the boards. He did get up and played the rest of the game, but the hit clearly rattled him.

"We didn't like the way we started the game," Quenneville said. "We were fortunate to be in it. But those goals late in a period are big goals."

Joel was referring to Patrick Kane’s goal with only :37 left in the first period that sent it to intermission tied at one apiece. The two teams alternated goals in the second period, with the Hawks scoring three and the Stars twice. Chicago added two more in the third period to seal the deal.

The win at Dallas marks only the second time they have won there since the 2001-2002 season.

The key play of the game occurred midway through the second period when, after a Dallas power play resulted in a 2-2 tie, Brian Campbell scored on a Hawks power play 1:28 later to give the Hawks the lead. Then, after the Stars tied it at 3-3 with four minutes left, Kris Versteeg scored the goal that was eventually the game winner.

The Blackhawks scored with less than a minute left in all three periods.

Note to Readers

If anything breaks in the Michael Nylander sweepstakes tomorrow, there will be a special blog dedicated to it. If not, then there will be a preview of Blackhawks/Maple Leafs posted tomorrow night.

The next game for the Hawks is Saturday night in Toronto. It will start at 6:00pm, and can be seen on WGN.