When Blackhawks winger Steve Thomas scored in the fourth game of the season to move to within two goals of 400 for his career, few would have guessed it would take Thomas 51 more games to score No. 399.
“I’ve been through slumps before, but never that length,” Thomas said Saturday after finally finding the net, the first goal in the Hawks’ 3-0 victory over the suddenly fragile Edmonton Oilers.
Thomas still has one of the best shots in the NHL. But he broke his drought with hard work in front of the net, fighting off an Oilers defenseman to tip in a Nathan Dempsey shot from the point in the third period.
“I heard it hit the post; I didn’t know where it went,” Thomas said. “Thank goodness it went in the right side of the post.”
Thomas has always been a goal scorer in his career, twice netting 40. But after going so long without scoring, doubts began to creep in about whether he would end his career just short of 400.
“I have to be honest, I didn’t know if I was ever going to score again,” Thomas said. “I was getting some chances. I think when you’re not getting chances, you’re doing something wrong.”
While the goal was a tonic for Thomas, so was the victory for the Hawks. It was just the third in their last 11 games.
“I was real happy for him,” Hawks goaltender Jocelyn Thibault said of Thomas. “If there is a guy that deserves to have good things happen, it’s him.”
Thibault picked up his seventh shutout of the season, a personal record and tops in the NHL this year.
“We know that if we want to win, we have to be good defensively,” Thibault said. “I thought the last couple games we kept the score low and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Tyler Arnason banged in a rebound of a Kyle Calder shot for his 15th goal of the season and Sergei Berezin closed the scoring with his team-leading 16th of the season.
The Hawks killed off seven Edmonton power plays, including two two-man advantages and a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Mike Eastwood.
“We did a good job of keeping them to the outside,” Dempsey said. “They kind of helped us a little bit missing the net and clearing the zone a couple times. Positionally, I thought we were pretty sound on it.”
Dempsey logged the most ice time Saturday at 26 minutes 47 seconds, nearly three minutes more than anyone else.
The Hawks played the third period with five defensemen after Steve Poapst was hit in the right ribs by a shot from Edmonton’s Eric Brewer. X-rays were negative, and Poapst is expected to be back in the lineup Monday night when the Hawks face the Vancouver Canucks.
The Hawks’ victory tightened the Western Conference race. Edmonton appeared to be comfortable in a playoff spot with designs on perhaps fourth overall and home ice in the first round.
But back-to-back home losses to the Hawks and Calgary, coupled with Colorado’s resurgence, have pushed the Oilers down to seventh, just three points ahead of the Hawks, with a five-game East Coast trip beginning this week.
The task doesn’t get any easier Monday for the Hawks. The Canucks, leaders of the Northwest Division and second in the West behind Dallas, are unbeaten in their last six games and will be playing their first home game since the All-Star break.
