Kane, Versteeg, Richards lead Blackhawks past Stars

photo from nhl.com

Six different Blackhawks had a multipoint game last night, and every guy on the top two forward lines, and the top defensive pairing recorded at least one point. At the risk of jinxing the team as a whole, I think this marks the official end of the Blackhawks' struggling offence.


For the first time in a long time, the forward lines were left untouched, allowing players to play with the same linemates all game, and the results were pretty unmistakable. Pat Foley, Blackhawks play by play analyst (and recent inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame) called Patrick Kane the "ignition for the 'Hawks offence", and with a goal, two assists and his thirty second career game winning goal, you can see where he's coming from. Kane has played well with Brad Richards the few times they've been on a line together early in the season, but it took Kris Versteeg on the left wing to really make this line click, combining for eight points in the 6-2 blowout. I can see this line staying together for a long time.

Another line that had great success, pulling together two goals and five points was the first line, Saad, Toews and Hossa. Seeing Kane and Toews on the same line for a few games was great, and certainly productive enough, but I really feel like if you can split them up and keep both players scoring at the rate they are, then you have maybe two of the strongest top lines in the league. The fourth line, though held pointless, had some of the strongest shifts in the game, with Ben Smith, Marcus Kruger, and Joakim Nordstrom (making his season debut) holding the puck in the Dallas defensive zone for their entire extended shifts at least twice.

Defence was also strong, considering they had to rotate five defencemen after rookie Trevor van Riemsdyk was injured halfway through the first period, and didn't return to the game, after blocking a shot from Trevor Daley. Every remaining defenceman except for Michal Rozsival played at least twenty two minutes, and Duncan Keith played over twenty five (his average ice time per game is 25:42). Quenneville hasn't given a timetable for van Riemsdyk's return, just that he'll be out for "a while", likely months, not weeks. A defenceman from Rockford, likely Klas Dahlbeck, will be called up for the circus trip.

They scored on the power play, and only gave up one minor penalty (not counting the Shaw-Roussel fight in the first period) which they successfully killed, so the special teams seem to be doing okay. If there was a weak point in this game, it continues to be in the second period. This is the twelfth game of eighteen that they've failed to score a goal in the second period. If they want to keep up this level of offence, they're going to need to spread the scoring out a little more.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Brad Richards. In his 1000th career game, Richards picked up two assists, and had several excellent scoring chances. It looks like he's finally found a line on which he can click, and hopefully keep up this level of offence, and keep up with Patrick Kane. After all, that's why we brought him in.

2. Kris Versteeg. Versteeg's play has been excellent, and last night he was finally rewarded with three points, including the backbreaking 5-2 goal, giving him seventh place in scoring with ten points in fourteen games. Playing on a line with Kane and Richards for any extended length of time can only be a good thing for his production.

1. Patrick Kane. Kane scored the game winner, and assisted on the 1-0 goal with a beautiful pass to  Keith. When Kane is producing, chances are everyone else on the Blackhawks is.