Scott Powers, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Andrew Shaw delivers after being embarrased by recent play

CHICAGO -- All of the Chicago Blackhawks were driven Tuesday to redeem themselves from their recent sluggish play, but no one more than Andrew Shaw.

Shaw used "embarrassed" and "disappointed" to describe how he felt after being a minus-3 and being given season-low ice time in the Blackhawks' game Sunday. Those feelings stuck with him the past few days and were at the forefront when he went out to play the Arizona Coyotes.

Like a spinning top wound up for days, Shaw was nonstop once he stepped onto the ice Tuesday. His constant work ethic paid off and snapped him out of his recent funk, as he scored two goals, had a game-high eight shots and was a plus-2 in the Blackhawks’ 6-1 win.

“I just went out and worked as hard as I could,” Shaw said. “I simplified my game and competed to my highest ability.

“Obviously, it’s been awhile, and I’ve been struggling, so it’s huge. The team came out how we needed to tonight. We didn’t like the last two games. We came out with that intensity and pushed it to our limits.”

Shaw dispersed all the tension he had been carrying when he scored at 12:48 of the first period. Teuvo Teravainen delivered a pinpoint pass from the right circle to Shaw at the front of the net. Shaw stopped the puck, spun in the slot and put it past Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith with a backhanded shot. Shaw skated to the glass and punched it with both fists in celebration.

“It was a relief,” Shaw said of the goal. “I needed it for myself. I just had to go out there and keep working and keep moving forward and simplify my game, and I knew I’d get it.”

Shaw didn’t stop working after the first goal, and he put home a second one in the second period, when he scored from the deep slot with a wrist shot. After scoring just once in the previous 21 games, Shaw found himself with two goals in one game. It was his first multigoal game of the season.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville thought he might get that response from Shaw.

“You hope that they get excited, they get angry, whatever it takes to get themselves back either in the productive lane or playing the right way,” Quenneville said. “When he plays the right away, all of a sudden, the puck finds him more.”

Besides Shaw's feeling better about himself, his performance was also a good sign for the Blackhawks as a whole. They have relied on Shaw in recent seasons to be a consistently reliable third-line center who can excel defensively, win puck battles, be a factor around the net and contribute enough to make a difference.

Shaw’s game Tuesday was a step in that direction.

“Tonight, he played a really good game, not just scoring the two goals, but he had the puck a lot, making plays, had some shots on net,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. “That line looked really good, as well. He’s a big part of our offense. He scores a lot of goals in front of the net. You see the kind of goals he can score on the first one. He’s got good hands, and he can score goals around the net. We’ll definitely need him going, especially the last half of the year.”

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