Hawks Back Atop West, Beat Sharks 4-3

The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks Sunday night at United Center to improve to 27-13-6 on the year and move back into the Western Conference lead with 60 points.  The win improved the Hawks to 17-5-4 and also tied Chicago for the National Hockey League lead with the New York Rangers.  The Hawks stormed out to a 2-0 first period lead outshooting the Sharks 11-8.  Dave Bolland opened the scoring at 18:01 beating former Hawks net minder Anti Niemi with a tough angle shot from near the goal line.  1:38 later it was Viktor Stalberg scoring his 14^th goal of the year after Jonathan Toews hit him with a pretty cross ice pass as Stalberg streaked to the net through the slot. 

The Sharks would fight back in the second notching two goals in the first 2:08 of the period.  Joe Pavelski made it 2-1 after getting a piece of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic point shot and deflecting it by Corey Crawford.  26 seconds later the game was tied when Steve Montador failed to get the puck out and Jamie McGinn stuffed one home on a shot Crawford would most definitely like to have back.  The Hawks would regain the lead in the second on a Jonathan Toews goal off a sweet feed from Patrick Kane to beat Niemi shortly after he turned the puck over to Viktor Stalberg.  Chicago outshot San Jose 14-8 in the middle frame. 

At 2:37 of the third period it was Andrew Shaw banging home a Marcus Kruger rebound scoring his 4^th goal in just his 7^th NHL game and the Hawks led 4-2.  The Sharks would add a late goal from Evanston native Tommy Wingels to cut the lead to 4-3 but the Hawks would hang on for the victory.  The Hawks outshot the Sharks 15-8 in the third.

All in all it was a solid 60 minute performance for the Hawks after only showing up for about one period against the Wings Saturday morning.  Chicago outshot San Jose 40-24 for the game.  The line of Toews, Kane, and Stalberg had a monster game and were a factor every time they were on the ice.  Rookie Andrew Shaw continued to impress notching another goal and getting more key minutes.  The Hawks were 0-1 on the power play for the game but the penalty killers were a perfect 3 for 3.

The Hawks will be back in action Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres at United Center in a national broadcast on NBC Sports Network.  Viktor Stalberg was named the NHL's 2nd star of the week on Monday with 5 goals in 4 games.