Blackhawks Continue to Surge, NHL News

Antoine Vermette was greeted warmly in his return to Chicago on Tuesday night after helping the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup last year. Might be a much colder reception next time.

Andrew Ladd scored two power-play goals after Artem Anisimov was knocked out of the game by a questionable hit from Vermette, and the surging Blackhawks beat the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Tuesday night.

Anisimov was driven into the boards near Chicago's bench midway through the second, leading to a boarding penalty and game misconduct call on Vermette. Anisimov, a key part of the Blackhawks' high-scoring second line, looked woozy as he left the ice and headed to the locker room.

"We'll know more tomorrow, but we'll say day to day, upper body, he should be OK," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

The big hit came after Vermette received a loud ovation from the sellout crowd of 21,884 when he was recognized on the overhead videoboard in the first period. Vermette was acquired by Chicago in a trade with Arizona last February and had four goals and three assists in the playoffs before re-signing with the Coyotes in the offseason.

Tuesday, April 5 Scoreboard

Carolina 2, Boston 1 (SO)

Buffalo 3, New Jersey 1

NY Islanders 4, Washington 3 (OT)

NY Rangers 3, Tampa Bay 2

Florida 4, Montreal 1

Pittsburgh 5, Ottawa 3

Nashville 4, Colorado 3

San Jose 3, Minnesota 0

Chicago 6, Arizona 2

Los Angeles 5, Calgary 4 (OT)

Winnipeg 2, Anaheim 1 (OT)

Wednesday, April 6 Schedule (All Times Central)

Columbus at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Vancouver at Edmonton, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Detroit, 7 p.m.