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CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa was back on top of his game and the Chicago Blackhawks got back in control of theirs.Hossa had two goals, Scott Darling made 22 saves and the tight-checking Blackhawks beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-0 on Tuesday night to snap a two-game slide.Artem Anisimov and Dennis Rasmussen also scored to help Chicago maintain a three-point lead over St. Louis in the Central Division.The 37-year-old Hossa scored his team-leading 13th and 14th goals in his 27th game -- surpassing his total of 13 last season in 64 contests.I feel more recharged, and with the puck going in, you feel more confident, Hossa said. But I try not to be just a goal scorer. I try to play both ways and even if I dont score in a bunch of games, I try to make some plays for the team.And the Blackhawks turned in one of their better defensive and puck management efforts this season, according to coach Joel Quenneville.I like what we gave up tonight -- not much, Quenneville said. When we check well and dont play much in our own end, we generally play well and we have the puck a lot more. Tonight was a good step.Darling made a handful of tough stops but wasnt heavily tested in his first shutout this season and third of his career. He started his third straight game in place of No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford, who had an appendectomy in Philadelphia on Saturday.I cant remember one extremely good Grade-A chance that we gave up, Darling said. The guys were great, the D were great, the forwards were great on defense.It feels good, especially that one. It was a team shutout.Mike Smith blocked 23 shots as the Coyotes lost their fifth straight and completed a quick road trip, playing their second game in two nights. Arizona lost 4-1 on Monday night at Columbus with Louis Domingue in goal in the second contest of a home-and-home set with the Blue Jackets.Playing in back-to-back games, we did not have the energy we needed to get back into the game, coach Dave Tippett said. We do not make enough plays to get anything done, whether it is defensively or offensively.Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews sat out his seventh straight game with an upper-body injury. Quenneville said earlier on Tuesday he hopes Toews will rejoin the Blackhawks when they travel to New York next week to face the Rangers and Islanders.Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook left with an upper-body injury with 6:38 left in the second period following a hit from Jordan Martinook that threw him awkwardly against the boards.Well see how is he is tomorrow, Quenneville said.Anisimovs power-play tip-in from the edge of the crease with 4:23 left in the first period opened the scoring. He was set up by Patrick Kanes pinpoint feed from the lower right corner and deflected the puck just under Smiths pads.Barely a minute after Darling made a point-blank save on Tobias Rieder, Hossa and Rasmussen struck for goals 19 seconds apart early in the second to boost Chicagos lead to 3-0.It was the turning point of the game for sure, Tippett said. As the game went on, our energy wasnt there.Hossa flashed his skill to complete a 2-on-1 with Ryan Hartman at 6:26 that made it 2-0. Hossa controlled Hartmans cross-ice pass with his right skate, kicked it to his stick and then stuffed a shot under Smiths glove from the edge of the crease.Smith stopped Richard Panik from the doorstep moments later, but Panik jumped on the rebound behind the net and shoveled it in front to Rasmussen.Hossa completed the scoring by converting a breakaway with 3:16 left. He beat Smith with a wrist shot on the stick side after being sent in by Niklas Hjalmarssons pass.Game notesReferee Gord Dwyer left after the first period with an illness. ... Crawford, expected to miss two to three weeks, has begun off-ice exercises. ... Arizona entered having allowed a league-high 850 shots. ... Chicago D Trevor van Riemsdyk played in his second contest since being activated from IR (upper body) last Friday and missing 20 games. He skated at Philadelphia on Saturday, but sat out Sunday against Winnipeg. ... Chicago Ds Michal Kempny and Michal Rozsival were healthy scratches, as were Arizona C Tyler Gaudet and D Kevin Connauton.UP NEXTCoyotes: Host Calgary on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Host the New York Rangers on Friday night.Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Jersey . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. 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"Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. Adam Larsson Jersey . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom.EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Eric Kendricks had an up-and-down rookie year for Minnesota, learning on the job as the starter at middle linebacker, and a hamstring injury during training camp kept him out of all four preseason games last month.The growth process has only begun for Kendricks, playing a vital position in coach Mike Zimmers complex defense. Mistakes were made in the opener on Sunday at Tennessee, to be sure.The sign of his potential, though, was as clear as ever on one game-changing play by an instinctual, athletic player.With Everson Griffen pressuring Marcus Mariota, the Titans quarterback made a quick throw to wide receiver Harry Douglas that Kendricks leaped to intercept and return 77 yards for a touchdown to give the Vikings a 12-10 lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter. That was one of two scores by the defense in the 25-16 victory .Turnovers are big, man, Griffen said. If you can get two touchdowns like that a game by the defense, its going to be hard to get beat.Mariota faked an inside handoff on that play and shuffled back into the pocket, but Griffen wasnt fooled. The rush prompted a hurried pass by Mariota, who didnt see Kendricks moving to his right to dart in front of Douglas and undercut the route.The kid is amazing, Griffen said, and weve got a lot of players like that who can do that anytime.The key for Kendricks was reading Griffens rush, which told him pass and not run.I knew he was either going to get sacked or throw it, Kendricks said.The soft-spoken Kendricks, who was drafted in the second round last year out of UCLA, was a reluctant participant in the large-group conversation with reporters in the locker room on Monday about his highlight-reel play.I think we just know what we expect on defense, Kendricks said. We have a standard, and we just want to meet it.That was his first career interception, a feat he apparently told his mother he was aiming for in a text-message conversation prrior to the game .ddddddddddddKendricks posted a screen shot of the message thread on his Instagram account, showing his response to moms initial encouragement for him to sack Mariota for her. After he wrote he wanted the interception, she even upped the ante to the touchdown.Kendricks was credited by Vikings coaches with seven tackles, including one for loss, in the game. He was one of five defensive players who never left the field, facing all 67 snaps by the Titans.I still have so much to improve on. Last game, I wasnt perfect by any means, and I made a lot of mistakes, Kendricks said. Im just trying to correct that this week in practice and work from there.Zimmer, naturally, agreed.There were some things that he was out of place. He was seeing ghosts a little bit a couple times, and really, all of our guys were at times, especially in the first half, Zimmer said. I think we settled down. We got under control. We figured it out.Early in training camp, before Kendricks was hurt, Zimmer praised Kendricks for his improvement.Last year, it was like he had too much coffee to drink, the coach said. Now hes settled down. I think he feels really comfortable.Game notesKendricks became the eighth winner of the NFC Player of the Week award under Zimmer, who has started his third season. Five have been on defense and three have been on special teams. ... The Vikings held four players, including three starters, out of practice Wednesday: DT Sharrif Floyd (knee), CB Xavier Rhodes (knee), TE MyCole Pruitt (knee) and LT Matt Kalil (hip). Rhodes and Pruitt missed the first game, with Trae Waynes starting in place of Rhodes. Floyd and Kalil were hampered throughout training camp with their injuries.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '