Hossa burns Wings in return

Blackhawks star has 3 points to help Chicago snap slide

3/16/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock talks to his team during the first period against Chicago in a battle of former Western Conference rivals.
Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock talks to his team during the first period against Chicago in a battle of former Western Conference rivals.

CHICAGO — Marian Hossa celebrated his return to the lineup with a goal and two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Wings 4-1 on Sunday night to snap a two-game losing streak.

Ben Smith had a goal and assist, and Nick Leddy and Jonathan Toews scored for defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago, which is struggling to keep up with the top contenders in the Western Conference.

Gustav Nyquist scored for the injury-depleted Red Wings, who are desperate for wins as they try to get into the playoffs for the 23rd straight time.

Chicago's Corey Crawford made 19 saves and Detroit's Jimmy Howard had 26.

The 35-year-old Hossa was back in action for the first time in two weeks.

The banged-up Red Wings played without 10 injured players, including stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Forward Todd Bertuzzi joined the list on Sunday, sitting out after suffering a lower-body injury on Friday against Edmonton.

The Blackhawks outshot the Red Wings 11-5 in the scoreless first, but neither team generated sustained pressure or many prime scoring chances.

The Blackhawks turned up the pressure early in the second and outshot Detroit 14-7 in the period. Howard came up with close-in pad saves on Hossa and Niklas Hjalmarsson during a flurry about five minutes into the period to keep it scoreless.

Leddy's power-play goal, on Chicago's 19th shot, finally opened the scoring at 8:44 of the second. His drive from just inside the left point sailed through a screen and slipped between Howard's pads.

Nyquist tied it at 1 with 4:50 left in the period with a power-play goal that deflected in off the skate of Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.

After the Red Wings had controlled the puck in the Chicago zone, Nyquist shot from the inside of the edge of the right circle. The shot appeared to be heading wide of the lower left corner of the net, but struck Seabrook's left foot and got past Crawford.

Smith put Chicago back in front 2-1 on a rebound with 14 seconds left in the period.

Defenseman Duncan Keith carried the puck down the right wing boards, closed to the circle and then fired through a scrum. Howard got a piece of the shot, but Smith muscled in the loose puck from the edge of the crease.

Hossa gave Chicago a 3-1 lead at 6:33 of the third. After taking a feed from Patrick Sharp, Hossa raced down the right wing, cut in around Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith and beat Howard from close range.

Hossa's set up Toews' short-handed goal with 2:10 left that iced it.