Marian Hossa’s first goal of series gets Blackhawks offense started

A few hours before the puck dropped Thursday night in a do-or-die Game 5 for the Blackhawks, Marian Hossa was asked if he was frustrated by his lack of goal-scoring in the first-round series, or if he believed he was on the verge of breaking through.

“A little bit of both, definitely,” Hossa said. “You feel like you’re having chances and the puck doesn’t go in. It’s a little frustration, but also you don’t try to get frustrated because then you’re not playing your way. You try to stay positive because there are lots of chances. One ugly one, and hopefully it’s going to go in.”

How about a pretty one?

With the Blues controlling the pace in a scoreless game, Hossa was on the ice killing a penalty when the veteran winger scooped up a loose puck, skated into the Blues zone two-on-one with Duncan Keith and wired a wrist shot past goaltender Brian Elliott.

Hossa’s 50th career postseason goal jump-started the Hawks offense in the second period as they took a 3-1 lead into the third. The Blues scored twice in the third to force overtime, but the Hawks staved off elimination with a 4-3 victory in double OT.

It marked the first score for Hossa, 37, since his 499th regular-season goal March 29 against the Wild. He missed the final three games of the regular season and was held off the scoresheet in the first four games of the playoff series.

While scoring is always a bonus, Hossa prides himself on playing a strong two-way game and puts defense before scoring.

“(Goals) are not on the top of my mind,” he said. “(It’s to) just play an overall good game. If I feel good, I know I can contribute defensively or offensively, so I don’t worry about it too much.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville had no problem with Hossa’s play heading into Game 5, even if the winger hadn’t scored.

“Hossa’s been very good,” Quenneville said. “Quality, quantity … you keep working at it, eventually you get one, you get a bunch.”

That was the case in Game 5. After Hossa scored short-handed, the Hawks got goals from Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin later in the period.

ckuc@tribpub.com

Twitter @ChrisKuc