Hawks Shoot Down Jets in Chicago

The Hawks (2-1-0) defeated the Winnipeg Jets (0-2-0) in front of a capacity United Center crowd.  Chicago got off to an awful start with sloppy play in their own defensive zone that led to two Jim Slater goals.  The home crowd let Chicago know what they thought of the less than blue collar effort with a chorus of boos.  Hawks Coach Joel Quenneville had enough, called timeout, and came unglued at one point motioning with his thumb to the locker room tunnel in a work hard or get the bleep out of here type of gesture.  The tirade sparked the home team as Andrew Brunette cashed in on the power play from Kane and Toews a short time later to cut the lead to 2-1.  Patrick Kane scored his first goal of the year off a steal and sweet pass from Marian Hossa to tie the game 2-2.  Dan Carcillo making his first appearance of the year for the Hawks made it clear early and often why Stan Bowman signed the agitator.  He hit everything in a white sweater early and was in the heads and under the skin of several Jets.  Carcillo fit in nicely opening up some ice for Kane and Hossa and even made some skilled passes.  He added an assist on the Kane goal.  Hossa gave the Hawks the lead for the first time 33 seconds into the second period from Leddy and Kane.  Dave Bolland added a fourth Chicago goal off a feed from Brian Bickell.  The Hawks appeared to be cruising to a 4-2 victory but extremely sloppy play in the defensive zone and an apparent inability to get the puck out of their own end on numerous occasions resulted in a Kyle Wellwood goal with just under six minutes remaining.  The Hawks survived more sloppy defensive play to hold on for a 4-3 win.  The win and the play of the Kane centered second line was the bright spot.  The play in the defensive  zone has to improve in a hurry.  I counted at least 15 times in the third period that the Hawks failed to make outlet passes out of the zone giving the Jets numerous extra chances that they failed to make the Hawks pay for.  Nothing against the Jets but let’s face it they are not the Canucks, Sharks, or Red Wings and one would have to think that one of those teams might have punished Chicago for their poor defensive play.  Chicago will have to be sharper when they face off against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins on Saturday night.  The Bruins are off to a sluggish 1-3-0 start and will be out to make a statement against the Hawks in a potential Stanley Cup Finals preview.