An eager crowd of 21,140 came to the United Center Tuesday night to welcome their Chicago Blackhawks back home after a very successful 4-2 Circus Trip.  The Blackhawks would have to take the ice without Marian Hossa who was once again injured at Monday practice after colliding with Nick Boynton.  Hossa’s injury was described as a lower body injury and will sideline him for two to three weeks.  To compensate for his loss, the team recalled Jeremy Morin from Rockford.  The Blackhawks also seem to be making another transition between the pipes similar to last year’s switch from Cristobal Huet to Antti Niemi.  Coach Joel Quenneville opted for Corey Crawford for the third straight night in goal over veteran Marty Turco.  The Blues went with Ty Conklin as opposed to Jaroslav Halak in net in what would be game one of a back to back set with Chicago and Washington.

The Blackhawks knew they were getting the second string goaltender and crashed the net often.  Morin would get involved quickly in a valiant effort to make a name for himself in the two weeks he is up here.  With the puck coming out from behind the net, Kopecky snapped a wristshot past Conklin for the first score of the night four and a half minutes in.  The uncredited assist goes to Jeremy Morin when he took out Nikita Nikitin behind the net forcing him to make an ill-advised pass.  Apparently Cam Janssen hadn’t watched John Scott’s beatdown of Kevin Westgarth in Los Angeles this week.  One minute after the Hawks took the lead, there was laundry on the ice and fists flying.  Cam Janssen wins Bonehead of the Year award by challenging Scott to hit him.  Scott responded by doing just that and loving every minute of it, even going as far as laughing while pummeling the helpless Blues right winger.  With the game tied at one and under a minute to go in the first, Tomas Kopecky took the puck at the blue line and dumped to his linemate Patrick Sharp.  Sharp made a couple quick head fakes and would keep it for himself and tap it in past Conklin for his sixteenth goal this season and sixth in seven games.

The Blackhawks smelled blood after the first and didn’t waste any time trying to bury St. Louis.  Jeremy Morin dumped the puck in behind the net with Conklin expecting to clear it.  What happened was a Blackhawk bounce if there ever was one.  Troy Brouwer was there to pick it up and bury it in the back of the empty net for his fifth goal of the season.  This time Morin would get credit for the assist collecting the first point of his NHL career.  When asked if ever expected to score his first NHL point that way the youngster said, “No, but I’ll take it.”  The Hawks would add two more before the Blues had enough.  Their frustration emulated as B.J. Crombeen challenged Nick Boynton to a fight to attempt to halt the Hawks offense.  It would work briefly, but the home team was still up by three at the end of the second. 

A three goal lead seemed as if it would be pretty easy to hold the way the Hawks were going tonight.  That wasn’t the case however.  The pesky David Backes set a screen in front of Crawford with a perfectly timed leap as Alex Pietrangelo netted a slapshot from the blue line for his second goal of the year trimming the lead to two.  Three minutes later Brad Boyes cut the lead to one and Coach Joel Quenneville had enough and called a timeout.  The timeout looked like a one-sided discussion as Quenneville wasn’t holding anything back.  It did the team some good to regroup on the side as Kane and Toews would each put in their eleventh goals of the year; Kopecky assisted on both contributing his third and fourth points of the night.  Of Kopecky’s performance, Quenneville said, “Production doesn’t always reflect the way you play.  Tonight’s game was more rewarding for him.”  Morin would spark the crowd once more by getting into a fight with Chris Porter, which left Morin with four stitches across the bridge of his nose.  David Backes would add a goal, but it was too little too late as the Blackhawks would hold on for the 7-5 win.

Tonight was a night of teamwork.  The contributions came from everywhere whether it was a timely pass, shot, or fight.  Other than the casual start to the third, the passing was crisp, the shots were smart, and the hits were hard.  Tomas Kopecky had four points, Kane and Toews each had three, and Sharp continued to stay hot.  Whether Crawford will remain in goal over Turco still needs to be determined.  Crawford’s win tonight marks his fifth straight.  The Hawks have a day to rest and then it’s back on the ice against conference rival Vancouver Thursday night.