No meltdown on home ice
Maybe it's the jerseys.
Wearing their white away uniforms at home Wednesday night, the Blackhawks played as if they were on the road.
The Hawks scored four times in the final 14 minutes to overcome a third-period deficit and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 to snap a three-game losing streak at the United Center.
"It's funny; we're finding different ways to win," said coach Denis Savard, whose team wore their white jerseys because Columbus requested to wear its blue.
"I thought we could have put them away in the second period. We had lots of chances. But we stuck with our game plan and again our character showed up."
The Hawks (8-7-0) did have to earn it.
After taking a 1-0 lead into the final period, the Hawks allowed 2 quick goals within one minute and 25 seconds and found themselves trailing with 17:24 left in the game.
Unlike their previous home games, the Hawks found a way to respond.
Jonathan Toews tied the game when he scored from the right circle at 7:16. Less than two minutes later, Brent Seabrook glided toward the net on a 2-on-1 advantage and flipped a backhanded shot over the right shoulder of Blue Jackets goaltender Fredrik Norrena to take the lead.
The goal had extra meaning for Seabrook after he struggled, seeing less than 10 minutes of ice time in Sunday's loss to Nashville.
"I wanted to prove to everybody and prove to myself that I could still play and that I'm a good player," Seabrook said. "Just go out there and play my game. I don't think I was doing that. I think I was worrying a little bit too much about other things."
Seabrook was one of a handful of defensemen Savard was happy with in the victory. Aside from goals by defensemen James Wisniewski and Duncan Keith, Savard also praised Dustin Byfuglien and Brent Sopel afterward.
The win pushed the Hawks to a game under .500 at home and in a direction they hope makes the United Center a more uncomfortable place for opponents.
"It's a big thing we wanted to do was establish home ice," Seabrook said. "We want to establish that the United Center and playing in Chicago is a tough place to play."
The Hawks did have to pay a price for their win. According to Savard, they possibly lost veteran leader Kevyn Adams for the season with left ACL and MCL tears. Adams left the game after being checked into the boards in the first period.
"He was a great leader," Savard said. "He's been awesome in the locker room. I've enjoyed his company this year. He's been a great help for our coaching staff. We're going to miss that."