The Blackhawks’ big-name scorers continue to spark Chicago’s climb in the Western Conference standings.
Marian Hossa scored two power-play goals less than 3 minutes apart to ignite a five-goal outburst in the second period, and the Blackhawks rolled to a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had a goal and an assist in the second as defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago snapped an 0-1-2 streak and moved into fourth place in the West with 84 points.
Kane’s goal was the 100th of his career and capped Chicago’s second-period scoring blitz that erased an early 2-1 deficit.
“The first period wasn’t our best,” Hossa said. “We settled down, tried to play our game. We started working as a team, and were closer to pucks, outbattling them.
“We’re slowly climbing up, getting a cushion now (in the standings),” Hossa said. “Obviously, it’s going to be tough to the end.”
Hossa’s goals were his 20th and 21st, giving him 20 or more in 11 straight seasons. He has points in 10 of his last 11 games, with nine goals and six assists in that span.
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Toews now has 71 points, a career high for the fourth-year forward. He has recorded points in 12 of his last 13 games, with 11 goals and 10 assists during the run.
All of Chicago’s marquee forwards clicked on Monday, including Patrick Sharp, who had a career-high four assists. Viktor Stalberg and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, who improved to 11-2-4 in their last 17 games.
“The five goals really put us in front,” Kane said. “There were a lot of really nice plays. I thought we bounced back pretty good.”
Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, who lost in regulation for just the fourth time in their last 25 games.
“If I was going to sum up the game: They skated and we glided,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “They were hard on the boards, we were soft. They were determined at the net. We played ‘I hope’ around the net.
“We were looking for a win the easy way. I don’t know why we chose that route tonight, but it’s not the recipe we’ve followed for success.”
Chicago rookie Corey Crawford made 33 saves in his 15th straight start.
San Jose’s Antti Niemi made his 25th consecutive start, but was replaced by Antero Niittymaki at 7:25 of the second after allowing four goals on 18 shots, and three goals on the last five he faced. Niittymaki stopped 14 of 16 shots.
