SUNRISE, Fla. _ Jonathan Toews probably didn't expect much when he took a backhanded, tennis-like swing at the puck.
Especially not with the way he and his line have been scoring of late. Toews had just one goal in his last eight games, and that goal was an empty netter. His wingers, Brandon Saad and Richard Panik, combined for one goal in the Hawks' last 14 games.
But somehow, Toews desperate whack of the puck in the second period Saturday bounced off the ice like a ground ball taking a bad hop in an infield and made it past Panthers goaltender Robert Luongo.
It was one of two goals Toews and his line scored as the Hawks defeated the Panthers, 4-1, at BB&T Center.
Fed up with their recent woes, Toews and his line asserted their will from puck drop.
Early in the first period, Saad had a couple choice chances and kept hacking away _ he finished with seven shots on goal in the first period. It was the first time a Hawk had seven shots on goal in a period since Dustin Byfuglien in 2008. He would score to snap his drought of one goal in his last 11 games when he re-directed a pass from Toews at 14:35.
But Saad's wasn't the first goal of the night for the Hawks.
That belonged to John Hayden, whose third goal of the season came after a strong shift from the Hawks' fourth line. He put home a Tommy Wingels rebound at 9:25.
They had 30 shot attempts to six for the Panthers during 5-on-5 play in the first period and led 21-7 in shots on goal.
The Panthers evened that out quickly in the second period and cut the shot differential to 22-20 within the first six minutes. They also got a goal from Jared McCann at 1:06 after a penalty on Nick Schmaltz expired.
But it didn't take long for the Hawks to get back on track. The first line again generated offensive zone time and Patrick Kane notched his third goal in the last two games. Kane wheeled around at the right circle and snuck a shot short side through the equipment of Luongo.
Then Luongo would allow another soft goal when Toews earned a bit of puck luck later in the period.
