The Blackhawks are the toast of every town in the National Hockey League, be it New Year`s Eve or Groundhog Day.
Toast as in ”they`re toast,” that is. Their road record continued to be charred to a crisp, dropping to 3-11-5 for the season and 1-10-3 in the last 14 games after Tuesday night`s 6-2 loss to Minnesota.
The Hawks haven`t won a Norris Division road game all season. They`re now 0-6-2 on Norris trips. What does that say about their playoff chances come April?
Brian Noonan was held without a goal after scoring hat tricks-and seven straight goals-in the previous two games. Jeremy Roenick broke Noonan`s string with his first-period goal.
Noonan did deliver the power-play pass that Brent Sutter tapped into an open net at 7:43 of the third period to reduce the Hawks` deficit to two goals.
But Minnesota`s Brian Bellows notched a hat trick, his three goals staking the North Stars to a 4-1 lead after two periods, and he added a fourth goal in the third period.
Three of the first four Minnesota scores came on power plays. The Stars had eight of them to the Hawks` four in the first two periods.
Those goals also were triggered by Hawks giveaways. Steve Larmer was knocked off the puck in his own zone by a hard forecheck; Dirk Graham was robbed of the puck by Mike Modano in the Hawks` zone; and Roenick`s ill-advised pass high in his own end led to a 3-on-1 rush that ended in Bellows` third goal.
No wonder the Hawks are 0-3-1 in their last four games and the fans are beginning to call for coach Mike Keenan`s head. The third-place Hawks are just four points ahead of the fourth-place Stars in the division and now 0-5-1 in their last six regular-season games at the Met Center.
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Bellows is rumored to be on the trading block. If so, the winger may have helped convince another team to take a chance on him with this performance. He has 15 goals this season.
There was a senseless outbreak of violence midway through the second period, the kind of activity that makes hockey a borderline sport in some markets. A prolonged series of fights resulted in five players being ejected and a mess that took about 15 minutes to sort out.
It all began when Hawks captain Dirk Graham had a shoving match with Basil McRae. Then Hawks defenseman Steve Konroyd mowed down McRae from behind, and the melee was in progress.
Everyone grabbed a partner for the holiday dance, and the battles became individual duels. But when Shane Churla decided to wallop Mike Hudson, Hawks goalie Ed Belfour raced from the crease and threw his arms around Churla during this tussle near the right boards.
Belfour was ejected for being the third man into a fight, leaving just a little later than he did in Sunday`s 6-4 loss to Detroit. Keenan removed him then at 9:10 of the second period with the Red Wings winning 3-1.
The Stars also held a 3-1 edge when Jimmy Waite replaced Belfour. Besides Belfour, referee Rob Shick banished Konroyd for charging and Graham for high- sticking. Just two Minnesota players received game misconducts-McRae and Churla.
The first period could have been far worse for the Hawks. They were fortunate to only trail 2-1 after spotting Minnesota a 2-0 lead.
Roenick ended a three-game stretch without a goal or a point when he skated out from behind the net, came around a crowd formed outside the left crease and beat North Stars goalie Jon Casey with his team-leading 27th goal. Larmer and Michel Goulet, who set a pick on defenseman Craig Ludwig, assisted Roenick at 18:38.
The game was in danger of unraveling early for the Hawks. At 8:20 of the first period, they went two men short for 2 minutes 19 seconds and also were burdened with a 5-minute penalty.
Defenseman Steve Smith received that major foul, along with a game misconduct, for getting a stick high on Dave Gagner. Smith threw his stick as he walked up the steps to the dressing room, upset with a decision that probably was relayed by a linesman to Shick.
The other Hawk infraction called at 8:20 was on Keith Brown for tripping, while 19 seconds remained on Chris Chelios` penalty for roughing Mark Tinordi. Chelios retaliated against Tinordi for his legal slam on Roenick behind the Stars` net, a check that briefly laid out Roenick.
Minnesota scored only once during that lengthy power-play chance. Bellows was able to convert a pass from Modano from low in the left circle while 10 seconds remained on the Stars` 5-on-3 attack.
That made the score 2-0 because Minnesota`s Gaetan Duchesne had opened with a goal a little more than five minutes after the first faceoff. He benefitted from Churla`s forechecking, knocking the puck loose from Larmer along the left boards.
Bobby Smith gained control passed the puck into the slot to Duchesne, who slickly stickhanded up the middle, drawing out Belfour and stuffing a backhander behind him.
The Hawks also had a brief 5-on-3 attack in the first period. But they couldn`t do anything with it.
Referees now have put the Hawks down two men 29 times this season, while they have given them 17 chances with the same odds. The Hawks have allowed six goals from these situations and scored eight.