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Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville moved big, 6-foot-10, but generally little-used defenseman John Scott up front to play left wing on the fourth line—the so-called “energy line”—Friday night, and Scott responded right away on the first shift by digging a puck out of the corner that led to a goal by Jamal Mayers. Scott, a fearsome fighter, later pummeled the Anaheim Ducks’ Sheldon Brookbank (in the way a Sheldon should be pummeled) and headed to the penalty box to the strains of Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad john.” He almost got a breakaway on a two-line pass later on, but it was just out of his extended reach. Even so, Scott was justifiably elated when the media first crowded around him in the locker room after a 4-1 Hawks win. “I can’t get greedy,” he said. “One assist is good enough for me.” And the TKO went without saying—this was a night to celebrate his hockey skills.
