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Blackhawks Thu Oct 20 2011
Hawks Take First of Two Road Games
The Blackhawks took on the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday in their first of two road games, and they rolled to a 5-2 victory.
Winger Marian Hossa also came back to join the second line with Patrick Kane and Daniel Carcillo after missing the team's game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday. In his first game back after suffering an upper-body injury, Hossa scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 15:06 in the first period.
The Hawks (3-1-1) out-shot the Coyotes 35-16 in their best effort so far this season. Phoenix goalie Jason LaBarbera had 30 saves in his second start of the season, including the first 13 shots before Hossa's goal with 4:54 left in the first period.
The Coyotes were only down by one goal during a power play in the beginning of the third when Chicago's Dave Bolland stripped the puck from Radim Vrbata and slapped it past LaBarbera, giving the Hawks a 4-2 lead. It was Bolland's fourth goal in the first five games; last season it took him 29 games to score his fourth goal.
Bolland's short-handed goal gave the Hawks some breathing room before the third line combined to create Bryan Bickell's goal sealing the victory.
Tonight the Hawks take on the Colorado Avalanche in a home-and-home series that will finish in Chicago on Saturday. The Avalanche are 5-1 this season.
Last season the Hawks only won one of the four games against their Western Conference rivals in a 4-0 shutout while the Avalanche put up 15 goals in the other three games.
