A 'fun night' at the UC as Hawks hammer Phoenix

Phoenix Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov and Chicago Blackhawks' Martin Havlat looks on after the Blackhawks' Dave Bolland scored in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. Chicago won the game 7-1.


BY LEN ZIEHM

The Blackhawks have been getting the reputation for being slow starters this season, but that certainly wasn't the case Sunday, when they hammered the Phoenix Coyotes 7-1 at the United Center.

The Hawks scored four times in the first period and led 7-0 before the game was half over. Those seven goals represented a season high and improved the Hawks' home record to a dazzling 8-1-4. The only problem they had was mechanical. The horn used to signify a goal broke down.

''Sometimes everything's going right,'' said third-line winger Andrew Ladd, who paced the romp with a goal and three assists. ''It was a fun night.''

Ladd, who has six points in the last two games, got the fireworks started. He assisted on the first three Hawks goals, by Dave Bolland, Jonathan Toews and Dustin Byfuglien.

Patrick Sharp scored the fourth on a power play, the first time in 12 tries this season that the Hawks were able to convert against the Coyotes with the man advantage. It also extended Sharp's goal streak to four games.

The Hawks didn't let up in the second. Fourth-line winger Ben Eager scored twice and pounded the Coyotes' David Hale in a fight, and Ladd also lit the lamp.

''If I could do that every night, I would,'' Eager said. ''But it doesn't always work out that way. It's a nice feeling when everyone plays well and you can contribute.''

The Hawks had six multiple-point scorers, with Toews, Martin Havlat, Bolland and Colin Fraser joining Ladd and Eager. Ladd was plus-4 and Brent Sopel, Matt Walker and Havlat were plus-3.

There was no negative carryover from the shootout loss to the Red Wings in Detroit on Saturday, when the Hawks blew a two-goal lead in the third period against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

''We played with the same energy [as the Detroit game] from the get-go,'' Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ''The puck was going in for us.''

And it wasn't going in for the Coyotes, who had lost 4-3 at St. Louis on Saturday.

The Coyotes ruined Cristobal Huet's shutout when Enver Lisin scored on a breakaway with 43 seconds left in the second. Huet faced only three shots in the first period and 20 for the game.

There was no scoring after Lisin's goal, and the only fireworks came in the last seconds, when Hawks rookie Kris Versteeg gave Coyotes rookie Kyle Turris a bloody nose after a multiplayer scuffle. That infuriated Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky.

''I don't think an 18-year-old kid should get grabbed from a pile and take a beating -- not in a 7-1 hockey game,'' Gretzky said. ''I don't agree with that. I've never seen that. But we've got another game with them [Jan. 6 in Phoenix]. I hope our guys will respond to what happened.''

Versteeg said Turris challenged him to fight and encouraged Gretzky to have a look at the tapes before the teams meet again. The Hawks have won the first three games between the teams.