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Havlat, Toews propel Blackhawks past Stars

Feb 15, 2009 - 6:09 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Saturday's game did not start off well for the Chicago Blackhawks, but it certainly ended with a flourish.

Martin Havlat recorded two goals and an assist and All-Star Jonathan Toews netted a tally and set up two others as the Blackhawks snapped a three-game home losing streak with a 6-2 triumph over the Dallas Stars.

Troy Brouwer, Colin Fraser and rookie Kris Versteeg also scored and All-Star Patrick Kane notched a pair of assists for Chicago, which returned home after a 5-3-0 road trip.

Cristobal Huet made 16 saves for the Blackhawks, who lost leading goal-scorer Patrick Sharp to injury 39 seconds into the game.

"We will know more on Monday, (but it was a) lower body injury," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said of Sharp's availability for the team's road games against Tampa Bay (Tuesday), Florida (Thursday) and Dallas (Saturday). "I don't think he will go our road trip."

Rookie Fabian Brunnstrom and Brian Sutherby scored and Marty Turco, who was making his 26th consecutive start, turned aside 24 shots in two periods for Dallas.

"It was a night where you could count the guys that showed up on one hand," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We didn't have many people going."

"It's disappointing to show up like this," Stars All-Star defenseman Stephane Robidas added. "We're not proud (of the effort), and this is not how we want to be perceived as a team. Bottom line, we didn't show up."

Brent Krahn made his NHL debut to start the third period, but he allowed two goals just 2:19 into the session. He finished with six saves.

"It's a pretty big deal to me, I'm excited, (although) I didn't see my first game going quite like that," Krahn said. "Sometimes things don't work out the way you plan them. The guys were supportive, I just wish I could have made a few more saves for them."

On his first shift, Sharp was on the receiving end of a check by Dallas' Steve Ott. Sharp left the ice and did not put much weight on his left foot while retreating to the dressing room, never to return.

"We checked hard and we tired them out a bit," Toews said. "Tonight, we played our tempo and our style. Guys stepped it up after Sharpie went down."

Six minutes later, Brouwer opened the scoring by blasting a one-timer in the slot past Turco.

Havlat added a pair of tallies in a span of 7:40 in the second period to stake the Blackhawks to a three-goal bulge.

After netting an easy wrist shot from the doorstep 4:06 into the session, Havlat finished off a 2-on-1 advantage by beating Turco for his 19th goal of the season.

"It was great plays by the guys on the ice," Havlat said of his tallies. "First goal was a great pass from Toews, while the second one, Bolland and Kaner made great plays."

A goaltending change did little to stop Chicago as tallies by Toews and Fraser increased the lead to 5-0.

"We got the kind of response we needed, and it was good to see, especially after playing three games that were not at the pace we like," Quenneville said.

Brunnstrom and Sutherby scored nearly 10 minutes apart in the third period for the Stars, but Versteeg capped the scoring with five seconds remaining.