Hawks fight back to win 2 important points

After Monday's morning skate, coach Joel Quenneville was having none of the talk about his Blackhawks looking to send a message to second-place Nashville later on that evening.

"We're not thinking about sending a message; we're just thinking about winning a game," Quenneville said of the last regular-season meeting between the two rivals. "We know this (points) swing could be the difference between being in first place or not at the end of the year."

Nevertheless, there certainly were a lot of messages sent Monday night at the United Center, beginning with a loud "We're here!" pronouncement early on from the Predators, to a "Not so fast" response from the Hawks in the second period.

But ultimately it was a "Not in our house" declaration as Bryan Bickell knocked in the game-tying goal with just 1:13 remaining in regulation and Jonathan Toews scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Hawks a thrilling 5-4 victory.

"There are certain games that will stick out at the end of the year that were a huge 2 points," Quenneville said. "Tonight is leading in that category."

Nashville jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead by scoring just five seconds after the Hawks failed to convert on a power play, and then again seven seconds after the Hawks had successfully killed off a Preds power play.

"The first 20 minutes we didn't play near the way we wanted to," Bickell admitted.

When James Neal made it 3-0 at 7:28 of the second, it looked like a lost cause for the men in red, who had to navigate through one of the league's stingiest defenses and all-everything goalie Pekka Rinne if they wanted to get back in this one.

Oh, they wanted it.

Brad Richards, playing in his first game since before the Christmas break, started the rally when he one-timed one from the dot to make it 3-1 midway through.

Andrew Shaw, who lost his stick during an extended shift, eventually found not only it but his first point in 10 games, when he jammed one in from the side of the net.

Less than two minutes later, a laser from Marian Hossa sent the UC up for grabs.

But the festive mood lasted just more than a minute thanks to Neal's second goal of the evening with 56 remaining in the second period.

But then Bickell struck with 1:13 remaining in the third, banging in a long rebound under Rinne's pads to send this one to overtime.

"We got the puck deep and I slapped at the rebound and somehow got it past him," said Bickell, who also had an assist on the night.

• Patrick Sharp played in his 700th career NHL game Monday and had 1 assist for his 500th point. "It seems like I was just getting started a few years ago," he said. "Time goes by fast."

• Defenseman Michal Rozsival (lower body) practiced Sunday and participated in morning skate Monday and is expected to be back in the lineup for the Winter Classic on Thursday.

• Follow Mike's Hawks reports on Twitter @dhspellman.