Wayne Scanlan 9y

Hossa gets No. 1,000, feels like a million in Hawks' shootout win

OTTAWA -- The script was written. Marian Hossa appeared to have the game-winning goal in the books Thursday, for career point No. 1,000, in the city where his NHL career began.

And then the Ottawa Senators spoiled the party, or at least delayed it. Hossa, the Chicago Blackhawks' stellar winger, scored his 466th career goal (and got that 1,000th point) to give Chicago a 4-3 lead late in the third period, a wraparound that beat Illinois native Craig Anderson in the Senators net. The Chicago bench exploded. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, a little more than three minutes later a shot from Mika Zibanejad leaked through rookie goalie Scott Darling, and overtime ensued.

In the end, Patrick Sharp, Chicago's third shooter, delivered the shootout winner. Hossa would have gone next.

“He was for sure, fourth,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

It didn't matter. It was enough for the 35-year-old, Slovakia-born Hossa to join the list of players who have scored 1,000 points, appropriately enough in Ottawa.

“It's such a privilege to be with these 80 great players to do this milestone,” said Hossa, who played in his 1,100th game. “It doesn't get better than this, doing it where I started. It's going to be a great memory.”

Humble almost to a fault, Hossa was always one of the most gracious players to have come through the league. So it wasn't a surprise when, with the game still in doubt after regulation, Hossa stood up on the visitors' bench and waved as fans acknowledged his accomplishment. Many in Ottawa still rue the day he was traded away, more than nine years ago.

“I had a great seven years here and the people were really nice to me during the time I was here,” Hossa said. “That was so nice from them, so I just stood on my feet and thanked them back. It was a great moment.”

In a 65-minute game, Hossa played 20:37 and pumped in five of Chicago's 39 shots on Anderson. A backhand attempt earlier in the game could have been point No. 1,000, but Anderson grabbed it with his glove.

Quenneville called the evening a “good reflection” for Hossa, to reach the milestone in the city where his career began in 1997 after he was chosen 12th overall in that year's draft.

“It's a special accomplishment,” Quenneville said. “It shows you've been consistently productive in your career. He does it not just production-wise offensively, he plays both sides of the puck which makes that 1,000 pretty impressive.”

Goals at last: Though he remained disappointed in the Blackhawks' power play (0-for-5 on Thursday, 0-for-8 over the past two games), Quenneville said he was at least relieved that his team produced more than two goals for the first time since Oct. 21.

“It was a matter of time before we started scoring goals, but we don't want to just play fire-wagon hockey every night,” Quenneville said.

Goalie call: In his third consecutive start, Darling didn't make Quenneville's goaltending decision much easier. The 25-year-old gave up four goals on 32 shots, surrendering a couple of weak ones but making two or three brilliant saves to improve to 3-1-1. Either Darling or Antti Raanta is expected to be sent down to AHL Rockford by Friday. No. 1 goaltender Corey Crawford is expected to return from his upper-body injury to start Saturday against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

^ Back to Top ^