Blackhawks rally for seventh straight win

After an intense six-game circus trip - followed by showdowns against heavyweights St. Louis, Montreal and Nashville - taking on struggling New Jersey had to be a little bit of a letdown for the Blackhawks.

It sure showed early on Tuesday night as the Hawks played a lackluster first period and found themselves trailing the Devils and young goalie Keith Kinkaid, who was making his first NHL start.

But with the Hawks down 2-1 late, and things looking dim, a Duncan Keith rebound goal with just over three minutes remaining in regulation sent the game to overtime. The Hawks ended up sneaking out of New Jersey with a 3-2 shootout victory on goals by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

"I thought it was a good win for us coming back," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We weren't as effective as we've been recently."

But a win's a win, and Tuesday's made it seven straight for the Hawks, who remain alone in first atop the Central Division.

"I don't think either team brought their 'A' game tonight," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "It wasn't a pretty win, but we have to find ways to win games, and we did that tonight."

After being outshot and outplayed in the opening 20 minutes, the Hawks finally lit the lamp midway through the second when Bryan Bickell sent a wicked wrister past Kinkaid to knot it at 1-1. Patrick Sharp, playing in his first game since Nov. 4, picked up an assist on Bickell's fourth goal of the season.

"He looked comfortable," Toews said of No. 10. "He stepped in and created some offense for us the way he always does."

Sharp had a breakaway early in the third stymied by Kinkaid, and shortly thereafter the Devils' Stephen Gionta knocked one out of midair past Scott Darling, changing the complexion of things.

But Keith's late-game heroics and Toews' and Kane's shootout tallies helped Darling pick up his second straight victory.

"When Tazer scored it kind of took a little pressure off, and Kane always scores," said Darling, who stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced.

The Hawks have won 10 of their last 11.

"We're happy with the way things are going," Quennevile said. "We've got a little momentum right now and we just want to sustain it.

"But we're happy."

Earlier in the day, the Hawks assigned Jeremy Morin to Rockford for a conditioning assignment and reassigned Joakim Nordstrum to the IceHogs after activating Sharp.

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