Lapointe: We need to bring it every night

It's never a good sign when a hockey coach comes out of a game and says his fourth line was the team's best.

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard felt his fourth line of Martin Lapointe, Adam Burish and Craig Adams stood out above the others Sunday at Vancouver, which partly explained the 3-2 loss to the Canucks.

Other than Patrick Sharp, the Hawks don't have anyone among their top three lines scoring with any consistency.

But it's not only a lack of scoring with the Hawks. It's a lack of urgency as well.

"Guys have to realize we have to play every night like we played at Calgary," Lapointe said, referring back to Thursday's 3-1 win over the Flames. "We played team tough defense, we played tough, we banged guys and worked hard and gave ourselves a chance to win.

"Either you have it or you don't, and that's how we have to play. That's the way the Blackhawks play. You need to bring it every night. If we don't realize it pretty soon it'll be April and we'll be saying we should have done this or that, but then it's too late. We have an opportunity now and we know we can play like that."

Almost nobody outside the Hawks' dressing room believes they still can make the playoffs, but the players do.

"There's totally time," Lapointe said. "If we bring it every night we have a chance. That's all we want."

Roster move: Center Dave Bolland was recalled from Rockford on Tuesday. Bolland had been in the minors on a rehab assignment, recovering from a broken finger he suffered Dec. 23 against Edmonton.

With Bolland coming up, center Martin St. Pierre was sent down. St. Pierre had no points in four games since his latest recall.

Tip-ins: Patrick Lalime is expected to get the start in goal Thursday at Nashville. It would be just his second in eight games. … Tuomo Ruutu has gone 25 games without a goal. … Patrick Sharp has a goal in four straight games.

Tonight's faceoff

Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, 6 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

The skinny: Are we there yet? Nope, there are still two games for the Hawks to play on a road trip that seemingly started around Christmas. The Hawks have lost three of four to the Blue Jackets this season and are 0-1 in Columbus. The Hawks' power play is 0-for-16 in the four games. The Blue Jackets expect Fredrik Modin to return from a hamstring injury tonight, but Sergei Fedorov and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen remain out with concussions. Nikolai Khabibulin starts in goal for the Hawks and is 0-2 vs. Columbus this season.

Player to watch: Martin Havlat. The Hawks need a big game from their star, who missed most of Sunday's loss at Vancouver when he became ill.

Next: Nashville Predators at the Sommet Center, 7 p.m. Thursday

-- Tim Sassone