Chicago Blackhawks: Much needed victory over Dallas Starson April 7, 2021 at 12:00 pm

On offense, it all goes through Patrick Kane. He had an assist on Kirby Dach’s first of the season which put the Hawks up 1-0. Getting off to a solid start like that was great for the Chicago Blackhawks and Dach being the one to do it was really nice.

They need him to succeed almost as much as any other forward on the squad going forward. Patrick Kane also scored the empty-net goal which put the game away after Dallas tried to tie it late with the net empty. It was another very good performance for Kane. He had a very pretty goal waved off for offsides when the game was 0-0 but he didn’t let it affect him.

This was the first game back in a Hawks uniform for Vinnie Hinostroza. They traded him to the Arizona Coyotes a long time ago and he started this season with the Florida Panthers. Things didn’t work out well for him playing under Coach Q down there as he had no points in nine games. In this game, he made a very pretty pass to set up Dominik Kubalik’s 13th goal of the season. The acquisition of Hinostroza could prove to be a nice one down the stretch.

Last but not least is Alex DeBrincat. He scored a huge goal to put the Hawks up 3-0 late (19:05) in the second period. It was his 20th of the season so you know he is having a magnificent campaign after a lackluster 2019-20. He also made a phenomenal play to get Kane the puck for that empty-net goal that sealed the win.

The Hawks now have an 18-17-5 record for 41 standing points through the first 40 of the year. They trail the Nashville Predators by two so they must keep winning to stay in the race. With 16 games left to go, it will surely be interesting to see how they play and how they manage their assets.