Joe Louis Arena hasn’t been a very kind place to Blackhawks winger Theo Fleury the last couple of seasons.
It was here last season, while a member of the New York Rangers, that Fleury got into an altercation with Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios and Chelios said something to Fleury that set him off. Fleury spent the rest of the game trying to get back at Chelios, then complained to the league about the comment.
In Monday’s 5-4 overtime loss, as the second period ended, Fleury went into the Detroit zone on the forecheck. Kirk Maltby got in Fleury’s path, and Fleury knocked him over. As the play ended, Maltby and Fleury got into an exchange and Fleury’s stick came up and nicked Maltby in the neck.
Fleury was given a five-minute major penalty for spearing and a game-misconduct ejection. Maltby was given a slashing penalty.
As a result, the Red Wings had a three-minute power play in the third period and the Hawks were without Fleury for the rest of the game. The Hawks killed off the penalty, one of four Detroit power plays they killed in the game.
Afterward, Fleury didn’t want to comment on the incident and Hawks coach Brian Sutter only said that the Red Wings initiated the incident.
Favorite foe
Two of the best games that Andrei Nikolishin has played as a Blackhawk have come against the Red Wings. Monday, Sutter switched his centers and put Nikolishin with wingers Steve Sullivan and Eric Daze.
Nikolishin snapped a four-game scoreless streak with an assist on Kyle Calder’s first goal to put the Hawks on the board in the second period.
“They have a couple of centermen that are top-end people,” Sutter said. “I thought Niko was excellent.”
Back on the board
Rookie center Tyler Arnason picked up an assist to break a scoreless drought dating back to San Jose on Dec. 28.
Arnason centered a line with wingers Igor Korolev and Steve Thomas. Arnason wasn’t the only one of that trio who was struggling. Thomas picked up his first point since Thanksgiving–a span of 22 games.
A deserving choice
Detroit center Sergei Fedorov is regarded as one of NHL’s elite players, in a small class along with Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux and Peter Forsberg.
But statistically, Hawks center Alez Zhamnov is having a better season and, along with goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, probably deserves to play in the All-Star Game.
Fedorov has more goals (19) than Zhamnov’s seven, but Zhamnov has 40 points to Fedorov’s 37. Zhamnov is also a plus-11; Fedorov is a plus-5. Zhamnov’s 21 minutes 34 seconds a game is slightly more than Fedorov’s ice time, and Zhamnov has nearly twice as many assists as Fedorov, 33-19.
Welcome back
Defenseman Phil Housley was back in the lineup after missing Sunday’s game with the flu. His shot from the point in the second period led to Calder’s power-play rebound goal and ended an 0-for-14 power-play slump. Housley added a goal in the third period.
The Hawks are continuing a season-long trend in which they win faceoff battles at home but lose them on the road. Of the last 12 road games before Monday, the Hawks have won more than 50 percent of faceoffs once, Jan. 2 in St. Louis. The last time the Hawks lost more faceoffs than they won while at home was Nov. 7 against Atlanta.
Center of attention
Here is how the Hawks’ current centers fare in faceoff circles:
PLAYER W-TOTAL PCT.
A. Nikolishin 190-335 56.72
M. Eastwood 128-229 55.90
A. Zhamnov 434-823 52.73
T. Arnason 170-409 41.56
Moving up
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The Hawks are inching up the ladder in team faceoffs. The Hawks are 20th in the league at 49.25 percent.
Top five
TEAM PCT.
1. Anaheim 54.49
2. Carolina 54.22
3. Calgary 53.61
4. Philadelphia 53.08
5. N.Y. Rangers 52.92
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Bottom five
TEAM PCT.
26. Minnesota 47.05
27. Phoenix 46.58
28. Ottawa 45.78
29. Florida 45.60
30. Atlanta 44.92
Not so fast
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The Hawks were whistled for having too many men on the ice Sunday, which is becoming a trend for them. Sunday’s penalty was the seventh time this season the Hawks have committed that penalty–all coming in the last 17 games.
On the plus side
Steve Sullivan leads the Hawks with a plus-16 plus/minus rating, which puts him 15th overall in the NHL. The Dallas Stars dominate the league leaders:
PLAYER, TEAM RATING
J. Lehtinen, Dallas +26
P. Boucher, Dallas +23
D. Hatcher, Dallas +22
S. Gonchar, Washington +21
A. Foote, Colorado +20
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On the minus side
The Atlanta Thrashers, not surprisingly, dominate the minus category, with the three worst all on the Thrashers.
PLAYER, TEAM RATING
A. Yashin, N.Y. Islanders -19
T. Connolly, Buffalo -20
Y. Tremblay, Atlanta -21
D. Tjarnqvist, Atlanta -23
S. McEachern, Atlanta -28
— Bob Foltman
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