Blackhawks already missing Toews

It figured the last place the Blackhawks would miss Jonathan Toews would be on the power play.

That was true in Thursday's 5-3 loss to San Jose when the Hawks scored twice with the man advantage.

But Toews was missed dearly on faceoffs and on a penalty-killing unit that was one of the worst in the NHL even with him.

The Hawks won only 45 percent of their faceoffs against the Sharks. Patrick Sharp lost 8 of 14 draws, Dave Bolland 9 of 15 and Ryan Johnson 3 of 4.

Tomas Kopecky was a decent 9-for-17, but he was defeated cleanly by Joe Thornton in the Sharks' zone coming out of a timeout with the Hawks trailing by a goal late and goalie Marty Turco pulled for a sixth attacker.

“Johnny definitely would be there, but Kopey was our best guy (Thursday),” Quenneville said. “Every day is different, but he certainly gave us a chance.”

Kopecky played 17 minutes at center on the third line and was minus-2. Bolland played 18 minutes as the No. 2 center while Quenneville started rookie Jake Dowell at center between Sharp and Patrick Kane. Dowell was minus-1 in just 10 minutes of ice time.

“It was an OK game,” Quenneville said. “We made a huge comeback late in the second, but it was s disappointing ending. In our recent losses, our third periods we've been tied and we look like we were getting something out of the game and come up with air. That's what we have to prevent.

“There were some guys that played well and some so-so, but we need more guys that are at their top.”

Curious decision:

So why did Joel Quenneville scratch Jack Skille Thursday night with the Hawks already down two forwards in the injured Jonathan Toews and the ill Fernando Pisani?

Quenneville used defenseman Jordan Hendry at wing on the fourth line instead of Skille with Hendry playing less than seven minutes in the 5-3 loss to the Sharks.

Obviously, it was Quenneville delivering some sort of message to Skille, who in 37 games is a plus-4 with 6 goals and 8 assists.

“We have some tough decisions,” Quenneville said. “I think Jordan has played well when he's up front, and we were looking for more consistency. You could argue coming off last game (at St. Louis), we had several candidates we weren't happy with.”

While Hendry played less than seven minutes against the Sharks, John Scott, the other defenseman-turned-winger, saw just 3:48 of ice time.

Niemi's night:

Antti Niemi shook off the strangeness of being back at the United Center with a performance good enough to run his record to 3-0 against the Hawks this season.

“It was a funny feeling,” Niemi said. “Even last night, when we flew to O'Hare and seeing the skyline from there and the bus took the same route, which I drove many times before. Then today was even more exciting. Getting to morning practice and seeing the Blackhawks trainers was great and made it feel like a little more than just one game.”

Niemi got a nice welcome from the fans even though the Sharks' starting lineup was never announced.

“I wasn't really looking for those, but I saw some really great signs and they made me really happy,” Niemi said.