Blackhawks ride Seth Jones' emotionally charged performance to beat Golden Knights

A fire has been lit under Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones.

Since hitting rock bottom in his Chicago tenure Monday, he has performed like the Hawks’ highest-paid player, responding to the adversity with two much-improved efforts.

In the Hawks’ 5-3 victory Saturday against the Golden Knights that ended a four-game losing streak, Jones scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and added two assists, notching his first multipoint game since Oct. 12.

‘‘I’m glad I could contribute in a positive way,’’ Jones said. ‘‘[I tried to] just make solid plays and be hard around the net defensively. It all starts there, really. And when I have the offensive chances, try to capitalize and make quick decisions. The last couple of games, I felt pretty good just moving my feet and skating out of situations I’m put in. It has turned into some good things.’’

Captain Nick Foligno implied Jones’ confidence was rocked when interim coach Anders Sorensen cut his ice time to a mere 16 minutes, 19 seconds and fans booed him whenever he touched the puck Monday.

Some boos mixed with tepid clapping when Jones was announced in the starting lineup Saturday, but he gave the United Center crowd of 19,340 much to celebrate later. He logged 23:23 of ice time, second on the team to defenseman Alex Vlasic’s 24:27.

‘‘He’s a proud guy,’’ Foligno said. ‘‘He’s a pro. He wants to be a part of this. It’s nice to see him leading the way. When he does, look how much better we are. It’s the reality of the position he holds. It’s a privilege, and I think he understands that. You have a lot of emotion, though, too. We’re all human.’’

In the last two games — against the Predators and Knights — the Hawks have a 3-1 advantage in goals and a 26-24 edge in scoring chances during Jones’ five-on-five ice time. They had generated only 31% of the chances during his shifts in the previous five games combined.

Sorensen called Jones’ performance Saturday his best since the coaching change, but he said this is what he expects from one of the best defensemen in the NHL.

‘‘His gaps were much better, [and] he was invested a lot in the game emotionally; [he] seemed to be really into it,’’ Sorensen said. ‘‘He had some offensive output, but the defensive part of his game was really good.’’

Foot-puck

Taylor Hall mentioned last month that he has been amazed for years by fellow forward Tyler Bertuzzi’s ability to score goals off his body, not just off his stick.

‘‘I don’t think I’ve ever scored a goal off my foot and in on a point shot,’’ Hall said Dec. 13. ‘‘But even back to our Boston days, I’ve seen ‘Bert’ score, like, three or four of them, so there must be something to it. It’s not something that I’m seemingly able to do.’’

On cue, Bertuzzi deflected in a power-play goal with his foot, lifting it to reach a point shot by Jones in the first period. He banged in another power-play goal in the third.

Bertuzzi leads the Hawks with 16 goals, including 11 since Sorensen arrived.

Fight card

Since venting his latest frustrations about the Hawks’ struggles this season, forward Pat Maroon apparently has decided the best way for him to make an impact is with his fists.

Maroon dropped his gloves for the second consecutive game, third time this month and fifth time this season against Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague, and there’s a chance it was the longest fight of his career. He then was ejected late in the third period for trying to force Zach Whitecloud to fight, too.