The Hawks and Coyotes got off to a fast pace with lots of skating and few whistles. Marian Hossa returned to the lineup for Chicago and showed plenty of speed and no signs of injury. Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera was the story early as the Hawks outshot Phoenix 15-4 in the first period. Both teams killed early power play chances but it was the Coyotes that couldn’t stay out of the box. Phoenix went to the box three times in the first and the Hawks were able to cash in on the power play when Marian Hossa made it 1-0 with Chicago on a two man advantage. Daymond Langkow nearly tied it shorthanded shortly after but couldn’t handle the Derek Morris pass with Hawks goalie Corey Crawford down and out.
The second period started off with a bang for the Coyotes when Taylor Pyatt finished off a rebound that Niklas Hjalmarsson failed to clear. The Hawks came on strong after the Phoenix goal and Jonathan Toews gave the Hawks the lead when LaBarbera failed to control an Andrew Brunette shot and Toews pounded it home. The Hawks continued to take it to the Coyotes but Phoenix was able to tie the game again when Duncan Keith lost an edge leading to a Ray Whitney strike. Less than a minute later Jamal Mayers tipped home a Duncan Keith point shot to put the Hawks back in front 3-2. Chicago outshot the Coyotes 12-5 in the second and through two periods of play held a 27-9 edge in shots but had just a one goal lead. The Hawks were just 1-5 on the power play through forty minutes of play.
The Hawks killed two early back to back Phoenix power plays and Dave Bolland added a shorthanded goal to give the Hawks a 4-2 advantage early in the third. Bryan Bickell ripped home a fifth Hawks goal halfway through the third on a 2-1 break to cap a dominate performance by the Indian Head Sweaters.
Chicago outshot Phoenix 35-16 for the game and killed off three Phoenix power plays. The majority of the game was played in the Phoenix end and the Hawks swarmed for pucks often creating a shooting gallery on Jason LaBarbera. The Hawks still played a bit sloppy when it came to getting pucks out of their own end and also struggled on the power play going just 1-5 on the man advantage.
The Hawks head to Colorado for a Thursday night showdown with the red hot Western Conference leading Colorado Avalanche. Colorado (5-1-0) has won five straight all on the road. The Hawks will need to bring their “A” game to get two points in the mile high city against one of the youngest teams in the league.
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