Hawks Brush Leafs Aside

Hawks 5 Leafs 2

TORONTO About the only thing missing was the Russian accents asthe Blackhawks made like Detroit on Wednesday and thoroughlydominated Toronto, skating out of Maple Leaf Gardens with a 5-2victory in what could be a preview of the playoffs.

And who more appropriate to lead the drive than the man fromMotown, Bob Probert, who conjured up images of Red Wings history withhis performance."He had a Gordie Howe hat trick - a fight, a goal, and anassist," Jeff Shantz said.The Hawks held Toronto shotless for one span of 18 minutes."And I don't think they had more than six quality (scoring)chances all game," coach Craig Hartsburg said. "We just played ahell of a game for 60 minutes. It wasn't so much what they weren'tdoing. We worked hard along the wall and did the little things."Even the much-maligned power play came to life, scoring twice ina game for the first time since Feb. 6. Murray Craven's first of twotallies, on a man-advantage late in the second period, proved to bethe game-winner as the Hawks pulled away with three unanswered goalsin the final two periods.About the only thing that wasn't even in the first period -which ended in a 2-2 draw with the Leafs holding a 7-6 edge in shots- was the fight between Probert and Toronto's Tie Domi in the finalminute. Probert pounded the diminutive Domi at mid-ice with 36seconds remaining after Domi "gave Chelios a little stick," accordingto the Hawks enforcer.The presence of Probert, who has six points in the last twogames, meant much more than his empty-net goal with 1:07 left."Probie gave us a tremendous lift," said Joe Murphy, who scoredthe first power-play goal. "And he just seems to be coming into hisown the last month. He changes the momentum of games and is bringingthe total package to the table. That's why they invested all thattime in him. He's such a great person, no one can be happier forhim than the guys in this room."Aside from Probert's pugilism, the Hawks connected on a coupleof their opening shots as well.Chris Chelios, with a lucky bounce off Toronto's Todd Warriner,tallied his 14th goal of the season 56 seconds into the game when heput his centering pass near the slot, and shocked goalie Felix Potvinwith the ensuing near-90 degree angle deflection into the net.Taking a page from Toronto's recent game plans - the Leafs hadaveraged just more than three goals in the opening period of each oftheir last three games (all victories) - the Hawks kept the pressureon Potvin.Three seconds after rookie Eric Daze's backhand shot from justin front of the Toronto net hit the post, defenseman MathieuSchneider held Daze within sight of referee Don Koharski, who sentSchneider off for the infraction.Less than a minute into the Toronto penalty, the Hawks scoredtheir first power-play goal in their last 21 attempts. Murphy gavethe Hawks a 2-0 lead at 3:17 on their third shot of the game when hedeflected a slap shot from Gary Suter. Chelios also assisted on theplay, giving the Hawks' captain his 68th point on the season, and theteam lead in scoring.Two seconds after Murphy lit the lamp on his 21st goal of theseason, Shantz made like Schneider and went to the penalty box forinterference on the faceoff. That set up the Leafs' first powerplay, during which Kirk Muller made like the Hawks' Murphy anddeflected Todd Gill's slapper at 4:41 for Toronto's first goal.Toronto's Larry Murphy tied the game late in the first onanother power play. The Hawks lit the lamp three more times and leftToronto in the dark.