April 25--After getting blanked in Game 1 by Brian Elliott, the Blackhawks have progressively gotten better against the Blues goaltender in the teams' first-round series.
The Hawks scored two goals against Elliott in Games 2 and 3 and then managed to get three past the veteran in Game 4, four in Game 5 and then dropped a five-spot on him in Game 6.
"The first three games we had the quality and the quantity more than we anticipated coming into this series and nothing to show for it," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "So it wasn't like we wanted to change too much. And we got a couple of goals on him and we felt, even though we lost Game 4, that we started to get some scoring.
"And then the last two games, it was the progression we're looking for. I know that with all four lines the way they are now, we expect everybody to generate some offense and from the back end (too)."
So as the series advanced, did the Hawks and goaltending coach Jimmy Waite build a book on how to beat Elliott?
"We always talk about goalies," Quenneville said. "Jimmy will go over it going into a series and we always will update it. And the guys talk about it themselves too."
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock confirmed Sunday that Elliott will start Game 7 on Monday night in St. Louis.
Rundblad not bad: Hawks defenseman David Rundblad saw an uptick in his ice time during Game 6 to 10 minutes, 34 seconds after he played just 6:51 of Game 5, which went to double overtime. In Game 5, Rundblad didn't play a shift of either overtime.
But Quenneville said he liked what he saw from Rundblad in Game 6, and it is likely Rundblad will stay in the lineup for Game 7.
"He's good," Quenneville said. "He got better, and I think he got more comfortable as well."
Rundblad had not played for the Hawks since Dec. 13 before getting back into the lineup for Game 5.
Hossa fine on third line: When Quenneville shuffled his lines before Game 5, he took Marian Hossa off the top line to pair Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Hossa has played on a line with Andrew Ladd and Marcus Kruger for the last two games. In Game 6, Ladd scored the opening goal while Hossa, 37, added an empty-net score.
Hossa said he hasn't minded the change, even if it is a demotion from the top line.
"We keep rolling four lines and, quite honest, (a few) nights ago, being on the third line I played more ice time than when I was on the first line," Hossa said. "It doesn't necessarily mean I have a problem with it. Not at all, actually. I'm glad to help the team, especially at my age, any way I can."
