Monday, January 21, 2013
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Blackhawks hold off Coyotes 6-4 in playoff rematch

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[January 21, 2013]  GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Dave Bolland had two goals and an assist, Marian Hossa scored twice against the team that knocked him out of last year's playoffs and the Chicago Blackhawks spoiled another celebration by holding off the Phoenix Coyotes 6-4 Sunday night.

Chicago ruined the Los Angeles Kings' Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony Saturday with a flurry of goals and did the same thing to the Coyotes after their Pacific Division banner unveiling.

Hossa had two goals and an assist against the Kings in his first game since being knocked out of last year's playoffs on a blindside hit by Phoenix's Raffi Torres.

Against the Coyotes, Hossa scored 50 seconds before Viktor Stalberg in the second period and again 14 seconds into the third.

The Coyotes pulled within a goal when Martin Hanzal and Shane Doan scored 50 seconds apart, but Bolland made it 6-4 with his second goal 22 seconds later.

Patrick Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks, who have 11 goals in two games.

David Moss and Antoine Vermette also scored for the Coyotes, and Doan added an assist in his 1,200th NHL game.

The Blackhawks raced out of the gate of the truncated NHL season, spoiling the Kings' banner-raising party with a 5-2 rout Saturday behind Hossa's big night.

The Coyotes limped from the chute, committing defensive breakdowns in a 4-3 loss in Dallas.

Game 2 in this sprint of a season was a rematch of the opening round in last year's playoffs, a physical series that Phoenix pulled out in six games.

The rematch opened with the Coyotes unveiling the Pacific Division banner at the north end of Jobing.com Arena, a ceremony the Blackhawks skipped.

Once the puck dropped, there were some hard hits, but didn't seem to be any lingering animosity.

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Phoenix got off to a quick start, scoring less than 4 minutes in when Moss gathered a loose puck in from the crease and flipped a soft shot that squeezed between goalie Ray Emery's pads.

Chicago tied it midway through the first on a power play, when Bolland one-timed a pass that Patrick Kane threaded through the crease.

Vermette put Phoenix back up early in the second, punching in a rebound after a shot by David Schlemko at the point was tipped by Doan and bounded hard off Emery.

Sharp tied it midway through, taking a nifty little flip pass from Bolland and firing a wrister off the crossbar just over Mike Smith's stick shoulder.

Hossa scored on a wrister after cutting to avoid a defender and Stalberg found the net less than a minute later with another wrister after Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek fell and gave Chicago an odd-man rush.

Hossa scored again right after the faceoff to start the third period, slipping a backhand past Smith to the short side.

After the quick goals by Hanzal and Doan in the third period cut the lead to a goal, Bolland pushed the lead back to two with a shot that caromed off Smith and shot into the air before falling behind him into the goal.

NOTES: Chicago LW Daniel Carcillo was out of the lineup and could miss up to a month after suffering a right knee injury in the opener against the Kings ... Chicago's Brandon Bollig and Phoenix's Paul Bissonnette had a lengthy fight in the second period. Both received 5-minute penalties and Bissonnette got a light, atta-boy pat on the cheek from Bollig after it was over. ... Doan has played all 1,200 of his games with the same team.

[Associated Press; By JOHN MARSHALL]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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