Blowing a pair of leads in the first two periods must have been frustrating for the Chicago Blackhawks, but it only set the stage for Marian Hossa to come alive with a pair of third-period goals to beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon.
It was the kind of game we’ve been waiting for the past couple weeks from Hossa, who’s been piling up shot attempts this season but struggling to convert them into goals. While one of the scores on Sunday came with an empty net in the waning moments, the first goal was an absolute thing of beauty, showing that Hossa can still fire off snipes when given space:
(via @myregularface)
This could be the beginning of a positive regression for Hossa’s shooting percentage, which was at career-low levels despite his ability to fire off shots like the one above. There was never too much panic given the way he’s racked up chances this season but it was encouraging to finally see things go the right way.
Marcus Kruger and Bryan Bickell also scored goals for the ‘Hawks on Sunday, handing the team 1-0 and 2-1 leads that it couldn’t hold. Vladimir Tarasenko was an absolute beast for the Blues throughout this game, giving Chicago’s blue line fits with his incredible combination of speed and stickhandling.
Corey Crawford was able to deliver another strong in net luckily, saving 25 of 27 shot attempts for his fourth straight quality start (a start where the goaltender’s save percentage is greater than league average). It’s encouraging to see from Crawford, who continues to get heckled by chants from opposing crowds but doesn’t seem to care very much.
The ‘Hawks improve to 33-18-2 on the season with the win, while the Blues fall to 34-15-4. The Predators are still atop the Central Division with 74 points, but it’s still close with St. Louis at 72 and Chicago at 68. All three teams are comfortably in the playoff picture, as well.
(Also, no three stars today, but we’ll have more later this afternoon from Randy on one of the most exciting games of the season thus far.)