Hawks win 3-2 in shootout; Kane hurt

A first-period hit by Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic sent Patrick Kane to the dressing room during the Hawks' 3-2 shootout victory Tuesday night at the United Center.

Beforehand, all the talk was about the Hawks' struggles during a disappointing homestand in which they went just 3-2-3.

Now, fans have to wonder how badly the league MVP candidate is hurt. Kane was cross-checked by Petrovic 7:49 into the first period and never returned. Kane's shoulder hit the boards and he skated gingerly off the ice. The Hawks announced later that it was an upper-body injury.

Kane entered the game tied for the league lead in points with 64 (27 goals). The injury couldn't come at a worse time if it costs Kane any significant time. Despite the win over Florida, the Hawks have been playing uneven hockey at best since the beginning of 2015 with just an 11-10-3 record. They managed just 17 goals on their eight-game homestand.

The bottom line is that coach Joel Quenneville's squad needs more production from three of their top-line players - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Brad Richards.

Toews, who scored a first-period power-play goal Tuesday, has just 5 goals in the last 27 games and is on pace for 24, which would tie a career low in a non-lockout season.

Take out the lockout year and Sharp came into this season with three straight 30-goal campaigns, yet he has just 1 in his last 19 games and is on pace for a meager 15.

And Richards, who seemed to find his comfort zone during that 18-4-1 run, has almost completely disappeared. He hasn't scored in 17 games and is on pace for a career-low 12 goals.

With Kane out, the spotlight on those three will shine all the brighter.

If and when they happen to pick it up, the Hawks figure to get on the run so many are expecting to see out of them.

But until then?

"You're just looking to get on a roll," said Sharp, "try to do the little things to help our team win whether it's going to the net, working the power play. I'm just looking for something good to happen and build off that."

Sharp picked up his 500th point with the Blackhawks when he assisted on Kris Versteeg's second-period goal.

Darling made 34 saves on the night and was impressive before allowing a pair of third-period goals that allowed Florida to erase a 2-0 deficit. Darling, though, made a pair of saves on Jonathan Huberdeau about five minutes into the game. Then, Darling stood strong when Derek MacKenzie was awarded a penalty shot at 7:10 of the second period. And finally, midway through the second period, Darling dove head first to thwart a charging Shawn Thornton.

Sharp admitted before the game that the Hawks didn't get what they wanted out of the homestand.

"It's a good opportunity, it's eight games in a row to use your crowd, your building to your advantage," he said. "But when you look across the league, every game you play now is a playoff-type game. Every shift's important and each game is difficult. The competition that we're playing is very tough and makes us want to raise our level and play even better."