CHICAGO _ The Blackhawks spoiled Artemi Panarin's return to Chicago with a 5-1 victory over the Blue Jackets.
The Blackhawks didn't waste any time getting on the board again Saturday night with Patrick Kane scoring on his line's first shift of the game. Kane fired home a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Blue Jackets backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for a 1-0 lead just 1 minute, 33 seconds into the game.
But the good start came with a cost as center Nick Schmaltz was injured for the second time in as many games. Schmaltz was on the receiving end of a big hit from Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson and laid on the ice as Kane scored. He needed help off the ice and into the locker room. Schmaltz re-emerged from the room and attempted to play another shift, but exited quickly after hitting the ice and went back to the locker room. The Hawks announced Schmaltz would not return to the game.
The only thing missing from the Hawks' 10-1 victory over the Penguins on Thursday was a power-play goal. The team went 0 for 6 in those situations but they corrected that in the first period Saturday when Brandon Saad scored his fourth goal of the season for a 2-0 Hawks lead at 6:04.
The Hawks didn't stop in the second period as Jonathan Toews got his first goal of the season after Richard Panik delivered a big hit on Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones behind the Blue Jackets net. Panik knocked the puck loose and Brandon Saad slid a pass to Toews for a one-timer at 10:14. Then defenseman Jan Rutta tallied his first NHL goal off a feed from Kane on a wrist shot at 12:51.
Panik padded the scoring in the third period with his second goal of the season.
The game marked the return of former Hawk Artemi Panarin, whom the Hawks traded for Brandon Saad in the offseason. Panarin received a standing ovation from the crowd as a highlight montage played in the first period.
