Chicago Blackhawks' Oduya keeps his focus

Johnny Oduya's 220th regular-season game with the Chicago Blackhawks was quite a bit different from any of the ones before.

After all, it's not every day a player gets to rejoin a team on which he won a Stanley Cup.

"Today is going to be a little bit more special and something that's fun," Oduya said before the Hawks played Anaheim on Thursday night at the United Center. "Of course I will try and focus as much as I can on the game, and (some) details are a little bit different that I need to focus on.

"I want to play a good game and get a win; first one coming back, that would be nice."

This was just Oduya's second appearance since Jan. 17 as he missed about six weeks with an ankle injury. What has been a frustrating season can turn around in a hurry if the 35-year-old defenseman helps lead the Blackhawks to another title.

Oduya was paired with Niklas Hjalmarsson, and while that should pay dividends down the stretch, he wasn't about to say the chemistry would reappear on their first shift.

"I'm not going to be naive and think everything's is just going to click, click perfectly the first day," said Oduya, who had 1 goal and 6 assists in 37 games with Dallas this season. "For me, obviously played with a lot different partners on another team this year. He's played with a couple guys here.

"It's always kind of how you can move through that and find the chemistry as quick as you can. We're hopeful."

Jurco impressing:

Tomas Jurco on Thursday played in his fifth straight game since the Hawks acquired the winger in a trade with Detroit. He has yet to record a point in 20 games, but he impressed coach Joel Quenneville in the Hawks' last game at Nashville.

"He has some capability offensively, and defensively he's getting comfortable with this group and how we want to play," Quenneville said. "Good progression to his game last time."

Darling skates:

Scott Darling was on the ice for the first time since he was injured during the Hawks' morning skate last Friday. Coach Joel Quenneville said the goalie "did well" and the timetable for his return (two more weeks) remains the same.

Slap shots:

Dennis Rasmussen, Andrew Desjardins and Michal Kempny were the Hawks' healthy scratches against the Ducks. Rasmussen, who played in 57 of the first 61 games, has sat three of the last five. … Patrick Eaves, acquired by Anaheim in a trade with Dallas on Feb. 24, had 2 goals and 2 assists in his first four games with the Ducks. He has 23 goals on the season.

He said it:

"Some real good memories, real bad memories. They (the Red Wings) had our number for a while. We had a couple good experiences in there, but it was always a hard building to play in. The octopus was a regular visitor."

- Joel Quenneville on Joe Louis Arena, were the Hawks will play for the final time Friday. The building is being torn down after the season.