Coach Q delivers a message; will Hawks defense answer?

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The way the Blackhawks are playing it might not matter if they end up winning the Western Conference.

Many of the issues that have dogged the Hawks for weeks aren't going away, and now there are only 11 games remaining before the playoffs, when either Detroit, Calgary, Nashville, Los Angeles or Colorado will be waiting in the first round.

If the Hawks thought they had made a breakthrough for the good with Thursday's 3-0 win over the Kings at Staples Center, Saturday's disappointing 5-4 loss to the Coyotes proved they did not.

If it's defense that wins in the playoffs, then the Hawks could be in serious trouble.

"There's lots of time to turn it around, but it's just drilling in the message and making sure that every guy in here understands we need to do those little things to win," Hawks winger Andrew Ladd said. "I don't know if everyone is kind of tuning it out, but we've got to find out."

Coach Joel Quenneville let his team have it after the Hawks blew leads of 2-0 and 4-2 against the Coyotes, continuing its recent trend of collapsing with leads.

"He came in and chewed us out," Ladd said. "Hopefully guys take that as a challenge for Tuesday and play better with the lead."

The Hawks get another crack at the Coyotes on Tuesday at the United Center.

"That team is kind of the model of how teams should really play," Ladd said. "They come back hard, they stop and start, they go hard into areas and play well defensively."

Even before the Hawks lost defensemen Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell and Kim Johnsson to injuries there were problems defensively as five-men units.

"It's defensive zone coverage, we've got to be better," Quenneville said. "That's how you win. You win in this league by playing defense. We know we're going to score goals. We know we can play offensively, but that's a commitment. It's a group of five that are on the ice."

Defenseman Duncan Keith didn't point fingers but said the Hawks are thinking offense too much.

"We've got to start making the right plays, get the puck in deep and not try to score all the time, every shift, and just play smart hockey," Keith said.

"When you say defensively, it means checking well and being on the defensive side of the puck, having a good stick, doing all those little things, being smart with the puck, no blind passes."

Keith was impressed as Ladd was with the Coyotes, who could very well win the West themselves after many picked them before the season to finish last in the league.

"They played a great team game from start to finish, I thought," Keith said. "We got a goal from Ladd that was kind of a lucky goal and we were lucky to be up there. The whole game they played well, I thought."

The Hawks now must take advantage of their schedule. They get Phoenix at home on Tuesday then play Columbus twice, St. Louis and Minnesota - three teams that won't be making the playoffs.

Somewhat lost in the craziness of last week with the injuries to Campbell and Seabrook and how they occurred was the comment Adam Burish made before the Anaheim game.

"The last seven or eight games are the most important games of the year if you're going to make playoffs because that sets the tone of what you're going to do," Burish said. "If the playoffs were tomorrow, I wouldn't feel real good about where we're at right now."

That pretty much best sums up the situation for the Hawks right now.