The Chicago Blackhawks resumed their winning ways last night, defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1 in Atlanta. The win ran the Hawks record on their current eight game road trip to 5-2. Patrick Sharp ended his gola scoring drought by rifling in his 23rd goal on the power play in the second period. Johnathan Towes scored off a rebound on the power play and Dave Bolland added an empty net short handed goal to ice the win for the Hawks. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 24th of the season for the Thrashers.
The Thrashers had two goals disallowed in the second period. The first, which bounced of Hawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin then a Hawks defender before crossing the line, was waived off because the referee had blow the play dead with a whistle. The second goal was negated when Kovalchuk rifled a rebound past Khabibulin as time ran out on the period, but replays clearly showed time expiring before the goal entered the net.
Khabibulin was strong in net for the Hawks, making 36 saves, including 16 in the third period when the Thrashers dominated play. There were long streches of the game where the Thrashers dominated, but Khabibulin kept the Hawks in the game, including a huge save on Bryan Little right in front of the net. The Hawks penalty kill woes continued as Atlanta was 1-4 with the man advantage.
Cam Barker had two power play assists for the Hawks, who head to St. Louis for divisional matchup against the Blues on Friday night. Dustin Byfuglien and James Wisniewski were heathly scratches for the Hawks, with Craig Adams and Aaron Johnson replacing them in the lineup.
Keywords: Chicago Black Hawks; Chicago Blackhawks, NHL; Atlanta Thrashers
