Who will step up with Kane, Toews out?

Losers of four of their last five.

Without Patrick Kane until the playoffs.

And now potentially without captain Jonathan Toews for at least the short term after suffering an injury Sunday night in Pittsburgh ...

These certainly aren't great times for the Blackhawks.

But with only six games remaining in the regular season and home-ice advantage in the playoffs at stake, the Hawks realize now is not the time to wallow. Instead it's either turn things up a notch with what they have or limp into the playoffs without Kane and possibly Toews.

"We just have to learn how to play without those guys," said Marian Hossa.

"Whenever you lose players, someone has to step up," Patrick Sharp said. "In the case of those two guys, it's tough to replace them but it's an opportunity. It happens all the time in hockey; players go down and it's an opportunity for somebody else."

"The way we've been playing is frustrating for all of us and we're not going to put it on any one player's shoulders to get out of it."

Sharp certainly has done his part to keep the team afloat. His assist on Sheldon Brookbank's second period goal Sunday gave him 15 points in the last 15 games.

And there may be some good news on the horizon with the potential return of Bryan Bickell to the lineup for Thursday's game against Minnesota

But still, the thought of playing without Kane and Toews is a little daunting.

"We've been pretty lucky this year with injuries," goalie Corey Crawford said. "Every team goes through it. We don't know how bad (Toews') injury is, but our job is to play hockey and bounce back.

"We're on a little bit of a skid here and we need to find some ways to win some hockey games. We can't let this snowball into something worse. We have to stay confident here and know the guy beside you is going to do his job."

After no further review:

The hit by Brooks Orpik that knocked Jonathan Toews out of the game with 6:30 remaining in the second period Sunday will not be reviewed by the league, but the response by the Blackhawks to that hit has been quite the topic of discussion.

Anyone who listened to the WGN radio broadcast could almost feel the steam emanating from analyst Troy Murray at the lack of retribution by the Hawks.

And Murray wasn't alone in his outrage. Here's what NBC studio analyst Mike Milbury had to say about Orpik during the second intermission:

"You have a guy who operates on a predatory level, that's Brooks Orpik, but he refuses to fight. He refuses to face the music. He makes a conscious choice."

Following orders:

Teuvo Teravainen was back in the lineup Sunday with orders from coach Joel Quenneville to shoot the puck, and the 19-year-old responded by pacing the team with 4 shots in 16:50 of ice time.