Hayes, Shaw score in Blackhawks' victory

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Wednesday rookies Jimmy Hayes and Andrew Shaw were making a strong case to remain on the roster and in the lineup.

And that was before Hayes and Shaw scored goals in Thursday's 5-2 win over Minnesota at the United Center. The Hawks' second straight win coming out of a four-game losing streak pushed them back into first place in the Central Division by 1 point over St. Louis, a loser in overtime to Vancouver.

Hayes had a goal and assist, both on power plays, giving him 3 goals in seven games since his recall from Rockford.

Shaw's goal was his second in five games since coming up.

“We have some roster problems we're going to have to look at here,” Quenneville said. “(Marcus) Kruger looks like he could be back here playing on the weekend so we'll have to look at some options here.”

It could be Ben Smith going back to Rockford. He played only eight minutes against the Wild compared to Shaw's nearly 15 and Hayes' 13.

Dave Bolland, who was the game's first star with 2 goals and an assist to go with great defensive work against Minnesota's leading scorer Mikko Koivu (no shots), likes the energy the rookies have brought to the club with Kruger, Patrick Sharp and Daniel Carcillo sidelined by injuries.

“It's always nice to have the young kids coming up,” Bolland said. “I know when I always came up you were always just filled with (bleep) and vinegar and you wanted to run whoever was in your way.

“You sort of learn things as you go, but I think the young guys coming up, they bring us some energy. We have some great young kids coming up in our system.”

Hayes' power-play goal was a big one, coming at 8:53 of the second period to snap a 1-1 tie and put the Hawks ahead to stay.

The 6-foot-6 Hayes worked his way loose in front, took a pass from Bolland behind the net and flipped the puck over goalie Josh Harding.

It certainly looks as if Hayes knows how to get open in front of the net from past experiences playing there.

“Everywhere I've played, I've been a guy that's been in front of the net,” Hayes said. “Maybe because I'm big, obviously. It's something I have to do and something I need to keep working on. I had two great guys feeding me passes tonight in Bolland and (Andrew) Brunette.”

Said Bolland: “He's a big boy with a big body. He was great on the power play there. He's a guy we need in front there. He causes a lot of heck and has a good stick. All I had to do was put it in front and he buried it.”

Viktor Stalberg scored 23 seconds after Hayes to make it 3-1, his 13th goal of the year and fourth in two games.

It turned out to be Stalberg's fifth game-winning goal, which tied him for the team lead with Sharp.

Ray Emery faced only 13 shots through the first two periods and finished with 21 saves to run his record to 10-3-2.

Minnesota, once the Western Conference leader, has won only twice in 14 games.

“Everything we needed to do to win this game, we didn't do,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said.