Daniel Carcillo may not be your prototypical first-line left wing. But the Blackhawks like what he adds to players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Carcillo played together with Kane and Toews for the first time against the St. Louis Blues in a 5-2 victory at the Scottrade Center on Saturday, impressing coach Joel Quenneville.
"It was a physical game and we knew it was going to be a tough game," said Quenneville, who will put Carcillo in the same spot Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes at the United Center. "He did a good job for us."
Carcillo did a good job of getting the Blues -- with their assembly of edgy and tough players -- off of Kane and Toews, specifically forward David Backes. Toews wrestled with Backes against the boards at one point in Saturday's game. Toews' gloves actually came off, but no fight occurred.
Carcillo didn't like that one bit. Toews' first career fight came against Backes on Jan. 2, 2010.
"That Backes, it's one of his jobs," Carcillo said Monday. "You look at the guys he's fought in this league. He's a big guy and he's tough, but he hasn't really answered the bell with any tough guys. He goes after guys like [Corey] Perry and tries to fight Jonathan Toews. You just can't let that happen."
Toews described his matchup with Backes as "same old" after the victory. Kane definitely likes having Carcillo on the ice at the same time.
"He played a good game and he stuck up for us," Kane said. "Say me and Jonny are on the ice, a team might be lining up thinking about him a little bit more than maybe another winger. It can definitely help."
Here is a video of Toews' fight with Backes:
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