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No goals by Toews or Kane? No problem

On media day before the Stanley Cup Finals, Blackhawks stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane sat alone at tables large enough for an anticipated throng of reporters and camera crews to circle around.

On media day before the Stanley Cup Finals, Blackhawks stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane sat alone at tables large enough for an anticipated throng of reporters and camera crews to circle around.

Teammates Dave Bolland, Kris Versteeg, and Tomas Kopecky, meanwhile, sat on stools crammed around small circular tables with two other players.

The seating arrangements were made for accessibility, not status. But the message was clear as far as who the expected game-changers would be heading into the Finals against the Flyers.

Those perceptions have changed now that the Blackhawks grasped a series lead of two games to none - mostly while Toews and Kane have been held scoreless.

"We're not worried about Patrick, Johnny and Dustin [Byfuglien]," said Patrick Sharp, referring to the Hawks' top line. "They do so much for us other than put pucks in the net. It doesn't concern us."

Seven players have supplied their eight goals.

One was enforcer Ben Eager, who scored the game-deciding goal in the 2-1 victory in Game 2 Monday. Another was Kopecky, who scored the game-winner in Game 1's 6-5 Hawks triumph. He had played sparingly through the playoffs and was inserted because of Andrew Ladd's injury.

A third was Troy Brouwer, who was concerned about his father's health early in the playoffs but rebounded for two goals in the opening game.

Bolland, Versteeg, Sharp, and Marian Hossa, who broke out of a playoff scoring slump, have all knocked in a goal.

Call them The Unusual Suspects.

"I think it's a bit of a trend," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Throughout playoffs and the history of playoffs, it's not always the top line that gets it done as far as the goal scoring. By committee or by a team, there's a lot of different areas. Your defense can even complement your scoring as well."

The Hawks are not content with Toews and Kane off the scoring sheet. But it hasn't translated into a point of obsession for them, either.

"[They were] on the ice when we scored the [Game 2] winning goal, so we'll look at that as a positive," Quenneville said. "They had some threats around the net. Some nights they don't go in. In fact, they were more effective and useful than they were in the first game."

"We said all playoffs long that we don't care who scores the goals as long as we're getting wins," Sharp said. "We have four lines that can contribute offensively, and that's why we're here."