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 But Hossa was more than happy to hit the milestone and celebrate
winger Patrick Sharp's shootout winner from the bench at Canadian
Tire Centre Thursday night.
Sharp went from his backhand to his forehand before flicking a shot
by goalie Craig Anderson for the only goal of the tie-breaking
skills contest, giving Chicago a 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators in
a wildly entertaining back and forth affair.
"Usually I go fourth (in the shootout), I think it was my turn
(next), but it was a good thing Patrick scored. He made a nice
move," said Hossa, who had a first-period assist for point No. 999
then scored to break a 3-3 tie with 6:10 left in the third period to
become the 80th player in NHL history to hit the 1,000 mark. "It's
such a privilege to be one of these 80 great players to do this
milestone and it doesn't get better than this doing it where I
started. It means lots to me."
Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling, making his third career start,
turned back Senators center Kyle Turris and wingers Alex Chiasson
and Bobby Ryan to set the stage for Sharp's shootout heroics.
Senators center Mika Zibanejad picked up his first point of the
season when he scored with 2:08 left to salvage a point for the
Senators, who saw their record slip to 5-2-2.
 "I didn't really know (it went in) until they started cheering, to
be honest with you," said Zibanejad, whose relief in breaking the
slump was evident in his celebration. "I was hoping I didn't knock
that glass over, but I don't think I'm that strong. It was nice to
get that goal, obviously."
Center Jonathan Toews scored twice and winger Kris Versteeg had the
other to round out the scoring for the Blackhawks, who improved to
6-3-1.
Wingers Clarke MacArthur, Mark Stone and Ryan also scored for the
Senators.
Anderson made 35 saves and Darling stopped 28 shots.
Ryan put the Senators ahead 3-2 at 30 seconds of the third period,
one-timing a giveaway by Blackhawks winger Bryan Bickell past a
startled Darling.
But Toews tied it up again with his second of the night at 7:31 of
the period, slipping off his check to push the puck into an open net
after defenseman Brent Seabrook's wrist shot from the left-wing
boards snuck past a screened Anderson.
The Senators scored the only goal of the second period to knot the
game at 2-2.
MacArthur's third goal in the last two games and fifth of the season
came with Ottawa on a power play at the 2:51 mark of the evenly
played frame.
Taking a pass from center David Legwand, MacArthur quickly jumped
out of the corner and jammed the puck behind Darling.
Stone opened the scoring at 2:48 of the first, redirecting a shot by
center Curtis Lazar between Darling's legs for his second goal of
the season.
The Hawks bounced back in the second half of the opening segment
with goals by Toews and Versteeg 4:13 apart.
"We certainly showed some resiliency to get to (the shootout) coming
back throughout the game," said Ryan. "You almost feel you earned
(the win), but when it comes down to a shootout they found a way to
get one by him.
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"They played a heckuva game. Their goalie stood on his head
sometimes. It was still a gutsy effort and I think we're all pretty
proud of that. "Obviously we left some points out there, but
outside of that I think we got a good measuring stick and we know
where we can go, and where we can clean up from here."
Ryan was happy to see Zibanejad get on the score sheet.
"I think I jumped as high as he did," he said. "I've been there,
we've all been there, and we know. He's still a young kid. All you
can do is tell him to keep his head up. I think we all took a
collective sigh of relief and we're happy for him. Hopefully it's
something where he can leave here tonight feeling good about
himself."
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was equally proud for Hossa.
"To get the 1,000th point in a special place, very memorable for
him," he said. "It's a special accomplishment. It shows you've been
consistently productive in your career. He does it not just
production-wise offensively. He does it by playing on both sides of
the puck, which makes that 1,000 number pretty impressive."
NOTES: Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa played his 1,100th game Thursday
in Ottawa, where his NHL career began in 1997. A former 12th overall
pick of the Senators, Hossa was traded to Atlanta in the summer of
2004 for Dany Heatley. "This is a special place for me," Hossa said.
"It just hits you, you have friends around, they call you, you meet
them, you come to the building, it always just brings you great,
great memories." ... Blackhawks G Corey Crawford served as backup to
G Scott Darling and, according to coach Joel Quenneville, will play
Saturday in Toronto. Crawford has been out since Oct. 18 with an
undisclosed injury. ... Senators G Robin Lehner missed the game to
be with his wife as she gave birth to their first child. Taking his
roster spot was G Andrew Hammond, who was also called up from
Binghamton in February when G Craig Anderson missed a game against
Detroit to be with his wife as she delivered. ... The Senators were
without rookie D Mark Borowiecki, who was injured when slammed into
the boards by Columbus Blue Jackets W Corey Tropp on Tuesday.
Borowiecki, who has played well through the first eight games, was
replaced by D Patrick Wiercioch. Also returning to the Ottawa lineup
was LW Mike Hoffman. Veteran Ws Colin Greening and Erik Condra were
healthy scratches.
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