GLENDALE, Ariz. — There are times when calls don’t go your way. The Blackhawks were reminded of that on Thursday night with a disallowed goal early.
How you deal with those calls, however, is what ultimately matters. And after fuming, seething and cursing — lots of cursing — the Blackhawks got it together enough to eke out an overtime victory over the Arizona Coyotes. It was a fun one to watch, if you like a lot of goals and a little bit of drama.
Anyway, you all saw it. So before we call it a night, let’s look at Five Things to take from the Blackhawks’ 5-4 victory over the Coyotes.
1. An angry Marian Hossa is a great Marian Hossa. Seriously, it takes a lot to tick off Hossa. He’s one of the most affable guys you’ll meet in this business. But he was still angry about his disallowed goal following the game. But during the game Hossa channeled that energy the right way with a great performance. As coach Joel Quenneville said, “We like Hoss, whether he’s scoring or not. But he had a real presence in tonight’s game.”
2. Jonathan Toews with the OT winner. Thursday marked the fifth time that’s been written this season. There’s just something about Toews in overtime. Sure, he gets great opportunities with the open ice. But Toews, in his first game since prior to the All-Star break, has also built up confidence from what he’s done in previous overtimes. Toews’ 3-on-3 goal-scoring prowess had Quenneville joking, “I would’ve liked to have seen him in the All-Star game.”
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3. Michal Rozsival’s first goal was almost the game winner. Seriously, how great of a story would it have been if Rozsival’s goal were the difference? The veteran defenseman had a big smile on his face after scoring his first goal of the season, a 4-on-4 goal off a pass from Artem Anisimov. Alas, it wasn’t the winner, but it was a nice goal for Rozsival nonetheless.
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4. Patrick Kane scores his 31st of the season. I used the word kerfuffle to describe the second period, because it was. And lost in the midst of penalties, a redemption goal and other fun, Kane set a new career mark for goals in a season. Who knows with what number he could finish, considering the Blackhawks have 27 regular-season games remaining.
5. An entertaining regular-season game. We’re at that point of the season where games can be a bit draggy, even if teams are just out of the All-Star break. If you wanted to watch some fun hockey, this one didn’t disappoint. Plenty of drama and penalties and goals and ties and angst: You usually have to wait for the postseason for all of that. On Thursday, you saw it in game No. 55 for the Blackhawks.