After starving for goals for weeks, the Blackhawks finally celebrated at the right time on Wednesday.

Taylor Hall scored his first hat trick in more than a decade, Connor Bedard broke his 12-game goal drought and Louis Crevier buried his first career NHL goal as the Hawks beat the Stars 6-2 on the night before Thanksgiving.

The Hawks’ offensive difficulties have been caused by a variety of factors, most of which are within their control, and they can only hope that Wednesday’s explosion helps them gain enough confidence to start fixing and overcoming some of those issues to begin in the future. It will be a lengthy process.

But bad luck also played a role: the opposing goalies had an incredible save percentage of 0.935 against them in the last three weeks. That trend wouldn’t last forever, and Stars backup Casey DeSmith, making just his second start since Nov. 3, single-handedly destroyed it on Wednesday.

DeSmith let an innocent shot from Hall slide through him just 17 seconds into the first period, and things didn’t get any better after that. A lively holiday crowd of 19,144 people at the United Center were able to celebrate regularly throughout the night.

Bedard’s shot into the top corner on a power play early in the second period elicited an expression of immense relief. Teuvo Teravainen, who had scored just two goals in his last 18 games, joined the group shortly afterwards. Hall, who had scored just two goals in 20 total games this season, extended the lead to 5-1 with his first three-goal effort since 2013 with the Oilers.

Quiet Martinez

Young defenseman Alex Vlasic has taken over the majority of Seth Jones’ duties with the Blackhawks, but veteran Alec Martinez’s timely return from an injury shortly before Jones’ departure has also helped.

Martinez, who made his 10th appearance of the season on Wednesday, has still felt some rust since returning to the team.

“Over time I’ve felt a little better, but little plays are the last thing – little dinks and plays in the ‘D’ zone,” he said Monday. “The little plays often make the difference between getting the puck out or not.”

Coach Luke Richardson assessed Martinez’s game more positively.

“He’s just calm,” Richardson said Wednesday. “He has a certain composure when he gets pucks out. And sometimes you’re under duress, you have to take hits and still stay in the game and make a play.”

Offside

What makes things even more difficult for Martinez is the fact that he currently plays on the right side, his offside as a left-hander. That’s because the Hawks currently only have two healthy right-handed hitters on the roster: Connor Murphy and Crevier.

Martinez estimated it has been about six years since he last played regularly at right guard during his tenure with the Kings.

“There are certain areas of the ice where it’s nice and other areas where it’s just not,” he said. “It takes a little bit more (thought). When you open a pass in the neutral zone or “D” zone, the forecheck is often in the blind spot, so you have to do a lot of head checking and constantly take photos. And then the stick position when rushing is also important.”

Notes

• The Hawks traded prospect forward Ryder Rolston to the Predators on Wednesday for future considerations. Rolston struggled to crack Rockford’s lineup this season, recording one point in six AHL games.
• Thanksgiving family time will be limited for the Hawks this year as they must fly to Minnesota on Thursday afternoon. Their immediate schedule is packed: Wednesday marked the first of five games in eight days.