SAN JOSEBlackhawks captain Jonathan Toews called Chicagos 4-3 win over San Jose at United Center on Jan. 15, a game that wasnt as close as the score would indicate, the last really solid game that we played.
That is a bit of an understatement, as Ive already mentioned on a couple posts here today. Toews, Patrick Kane and Viktor Stalberg combined for two goals, three assists and 17 shots on goal in a remarkable performance in which they seemed to have the puck on their sticks all night long.
I asked both Toews and Kane this morning what they remember from that matchup as they try to end a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) tonight at HP Pavilion.
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We wanted to make that the standard of how we play every single night, Toews said. We had everybody on the same page and everybody playing the right way. We didnt make too many mistakes and we had to kill or penalties, especially late in the game. All of those things we dealt with very well. We always seem to bring that out when were playing tougher teams, and were certainly going to need another performance like that tonight.
Kane said: I think we were playing against Joe Thorntons line that night, so sometimes it puts pressure on yourself to play good against those guys and try to keep them out of your end. Our main goal that night was to play with the puck and keep it away from those guys. Same thing tonight.
Notably, Kane and Toews were split up at the end of Chicago's 5-2 loss in Colorado on Feb. 7, and remained separated in practice on Thursday. Toews skated with Marian Hossa and Michael Frolik, while Kane was with Patrick Sharp and Marcus Kruger.