Maybe Chris Chelios just needed to be a little closer to his home away from home–Malibu–to play his best game of the year.
Wednesday night, the Blackhawks captain scored his first goal of the season on a rising slap shot, and he helped blanket Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne as the Hawks beat the Mighty Ducks 4-0.
“I knew Cheli was going to score,” Tony Amonte said. “I told him, `This is the night. You’re going to get it tonight and then you’re on your way.’
“He had a great game all around. Physical, controlling the boards, getting the puck out, getting the puck in. He was a pleasure to watch.”
Indeed, Chelios not only got involved in the offense, but he also helped limit Selanne, the league’s top goal-scorer with 20, to two shots, none after the first period.
“He was outstanding,” goalie Jeff Hackett said.
“Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come,” Gary Suter said. “He got a big goal there. Maybe that will get him going. Once you break the ice, they start to go in.”
Forecheck checks in: The Hawks played one of their more aggressive periods of the season in the second period against Anaheim, scoring twice and outshooting the Ducks 14-3.
“We chased the puck a lot better and were better on the forecheck,” said coach Craig Hartsburg. “Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come on this trip. We got a little bit from everybody.”
Not again: The Hawks let a two-goal lead slip away down the stretch against the Red Wings Sunday, settling for a tie. They weren’t going to let that happen again Wednesday.
“It shows a lot of character in the room to come back after coming away with just one point against Detroit,” said Hackett, who stopped 27 shots for his first win of the season.
More good things to come: Before Wednesday, Eric Daze had gone three straight games without registering a shot on goal. “It’s no coincidence when he was playing well, we were winning,” Hartsburg said.
Daze played well against Anaheim, assisting on the first goal and recording four shots on goal.
“That’s probably the best he has skated in the last four, five games,” said Hartsburg. “We have to keep prodding him and trying to get him to play the way he can.”
Main event: An advertisement in the Los Angeles Times touted Thursday’s game like a boxing card. The “main event” was three periods of the Hawks and Kings. The “special feature bout” was Rob Blake vs. Chris Chelios.
Hartsburg wasn’t amused.
“That’s really selling the game, isn’t it?” he said.
