CHICAGO _ The Blackhawks have a new pregame tradition. Every time they play at home after a loss, the first song they skate to in warmups is Big Sean's "Bounce Back," which contains the hook, "Last night took an 'L' but tonight I bounce back."
An 'L' isn't a train, it's a loss. And the Hawks have been taking too many Ls of late for their liking.
But Wednesday was indeed a bounce back game for the Hawks as they quieted the Rangers, one of the hottest teams in hockey, with a 6-3 victory at the United Center.
A fortuitous roll of the puck for rookie Alex DeBrincat got the good times rolling in the second period _ a roll that would snowball into a flurry of goals in the third period. Artem Anisimov registered a hat trick _ with all three goals coming in the third _ while John Hayden and Jonathan Toews added goals to give the Hawks a convincing, much-needed win.
The Hawks were trailing 1-0 when the ice broke, or more accurately, was tilted just enough in the Hawks' favor. With around a minute left in the period, DeBrincat fired a shot from the left circle at Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist appeared to stop the puck initially, but the puck trickled behind him and took the scenic route to the goal line. After dropping between Lundqvist's legs, the puck was on its side and curved its way across the goal line before coming to a stop with 51.6 seconds remaining.
It was DeBrincat's fourth in three games and tied him for the team lead with Brandon Saad with seven.
But then Anisimov came for that team lead and grabbed a stranglehold on it.
In the second period, there was the dangerous shift from the line of Nick Schmaltz, Patrick Kane and Anisimov, which seemed to provide the Hawks a needed jolt of energy. They pinned the Rangers in their own zone for what seemed like minutes, but had no goal to show for it.
They got their goal and then some near the start of the third period with a nice bit of touch passing in a tight space from Schmaltz to Kane to Anisimov. Anisimov finished the play off in the slot at 1:07 for his seventh goal of the season, tying DeBrincat and Saad for the team lead.
John Hayden, falling over as he shot, cleaned up a rebound of a Cody Franson shot for his second goal of the season at 1:53 before Anisimov continued his domination.
He redeemed a Hawks power-play unit that had gone 0 for 4 prior to his power-play goal at 5:14 from the slot. With that goal Anisimov took over the team lead in goals with eight. He would then add to it on a breakaway with Schmaltz when he redirected a pass from Schmaltz high into the net for an important insurance goal at 16:12.
The Rangers gave the Hawks a scare in the third period after the Hawks took a 4-1 lead. Kevin Hayes scored at 7:08 and Rick Nash at 11:56 scored from nearly identical spots on the ice _ just below the right circle to make it 4-3 before Anisimov gave the Hawks their breathing room back. And after the last few weeks the Hawks, could use a deep exhale.
