Repentant Shaw is ‘living in the now’
Andrew Shaw was inside the visitors’ dressing room with the other scratches at Scottrade Center, wearing a suit, when Patrick Kane swooped behind the Blues net and followed his own shot to give the Blackhawks’ a stirring double-overtime victory Thursday night and save the season.
But perhaps nobody was excited — or as relieved — as Shaw.
“It was a huge relief, obviously,” Shaw said. “Probably tougher to watch than to play, especially in a tight game like that.”
Shaw’s one-game suspension for hurling a homophobic slur at an official at the end of Game 4 could have cost the Hawks Game 5 and their first-round series with the Blues, and could have marked the end of his Hawks career. Instead, he was back in the lineup — and back on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Kane, no less — for Saturday night’s Game 6.
He finished on the fourth line after a key Joel Quenneville adjustment when the Hawks were down 3-1, but wound up scoring a powerplay goal with 3:07 to go to seal a 6-3 victory and help send the series back to St. Louis for Game 7.
“It’s a roller-coaster ride, up and down,” Shaw said before the game. “We got up 3-1 and the boys are all excited and then they tied it and go into overtime. That overtime was rattling the nerves, that’s for sure, but a lot of excitement when Kane put that one in.”
Shaw said he’s moved on from the suspension, and after apologizing for his actions on Wednesday, didn’t want to talk much about it after Saturday’s morning skate. He said the last couple of days have been “tough.”
“But that kind of stuff makes a man stronger, and you move on from it,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t for- get it, and you learn from it.”
As for his long-term future, given his pending restricted-free-agent status, Shaw said he hasn’t been dwelling on it, and has been “living in the now.”
Shaw had been one of the Hawks’ most effective forwards in the first four games of the series, with two goals and two assists. So even though Richard Panik had a strong game with Toews and Kane in Game 5, Quenneville went back to Shaw for Game 6, with Panik bumped down to the fourth line with Andrew Desjardins and Dale Weise.
Shaw noted that the trio had a shift together in Game 2 — it lasted all of three seconds, and ended in Duncan Keith’s goal at the very end of the second period.
“I know what I need to do when I play with those two guys,” Shaw said. “They’re obviously great with the puck, and I’m going to do what I can to get to the net and create some havoc there.”
Creating havoc is what Shaw does best. But there’s a limit, one Quenneville hopes Shaw recognizes from now on.
“He always brings us some energy in a lot of ways, competitive- ness, willingness to get to the tough areas,” Quenneville said. “He’s a scrappy guy who plays the right way. But he has to know there’s a line you’ve got to make sure you don’t cross, and bring that attitude tonight.”
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