Feb. 16--With an offense that was struggling -- and without Marian Hossa in the lineup -- the Blackhawks were still able to break out in a big way against the Maple Leafs in a 7-2 victory. It always helps when you play the worst team in the league, but it's not as if the Maple Leafs allow seven goals every night they play.
MVP?
When Patrick Kane was conducting a postgame interview on the United Center ice after the game, the crowd began chanting "MVP, MVP." Kane took a minute to soak in the adulation.
"It's special. It kind of takes you back a a second, just to listen to it and enjoy it," Kane said. "I don't even know if I'm the MVP of our team. I think (Corey) Crawford's had a great season. He's been unbelievable in the net. But to hear them say that and to hear the support is definitely pretty cool."
Kane continued his romp in the points race on Monday, tallying another four (one goal, three assists) and now has 400 assists for his career. Kane is now up 82 points for the season. By comparison, the Stars' Jamie Benn, who won the Hart Trophy last season, finished with 87.
Scoring barrage
On a night when a team scores seven goals (a season high for the Hawks), you might expect a player or two to have a multiple goal night. Instead, the Hawks had seven goals from seven different players. They were, in order: Brandon Mashinter, Andrew Shaw, Brent Seabrook, Artemi Panarin, Kane, Teuvo Teravainen and Viktor Svedberg. Four of those goals came on a Hawks power play that was struggling of late.
But what pleased coach Joel Quenneville was the start the Hawks had to Monday's game. In their last three losses, the Hawks seemed a step slow in the first period. That wasn't the case against the Maple Leafs.
"I thought we did some good things," Quenneville said. "Obviously the power play was very good tonight. I still think we could be better but there were some real positives tonight."
Corsi look
The Maple Leafs led in overall shots 69-54 and 53-35 during even strength play, which you might expect given that the Hawks had such a big lead most of the game and were trying not to give up too many high-danger chances. Adjusted for score effects and the Leafs' margin shrinks in overall shots, according to war-on-ice.com. In even strength play, the Leafs led in score-adjusted Corsi 47.2-37.1, overall the Leafs led 60.7-58.6.
