Hawks bounce back, shut down Wild

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard, frustrated after Tuesday's 4-goal loss in St. Louis, said Wednesday night's game against Minnesota would show what his team was made of.

Savard got the response he hoped for as rookie center Dave Bolland scored twice and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin pitched a shutout in a 3-0 blanking of the Wild before 17,812 at the United Center.

"It's true, we didn't play our best game last night," Bolland said. "Tonight we had a game plan and stuck with it. We never got off our game."

Of course, a game plan always looks better with great goaltending, which is what the Hawks got from Khabibulin in his first start since missing three games with a mild knee sprain.

Khabibulin made 38 saves, helping the Hawks win for the fifth time in the last seven games. It was Khabibulin's second shutout in three seasons with the Hawks.

"Obviously, we got great goaltending," Savard said. "And we worked and found a way to win."

Khabibulin has won three of his last four starts after going 10 without a victory.

"I think the biggest thing, from my perspective, was to control the rebounds, which I think I did," Khabibulin said. "They had a lot of shots, but I don't think they had a lot of scoring chances.

"It was important that we played a good game. It was as close to a playoff game as possible and I thought we played well."

Khabibulin made an early goal from Patrick Kane hold up until Bolland scored late in the second period and again early in the third for some breathing room.

"Habby was really solid and made some key saves when it was 1-0," Savard said. "We didn't take the game over until we got the third goal. After that I thought we played with lots of poise and confidence."

Kane got his 14th goal at 3:49 of the first on a Robert Lang rebound after defenseman Jordan Hendry made a nice rush up the ice.

Bolland made it 2-0 with 19.4 seconds left in the second period, a wrist shot from inside the left circle through goalie Josh Harding off a feed from Rene Bourque.

"That second goal was a huge goal," Savard said.

Bolland's second goal at 5:24 of the third period came on a Duncan Keith rebound.

"I'm just happy to get 2 in one game," said Bolland, who was missed for the six weeks he sat out with a broken finger. "It was tough sitting out those six weeks. It's nice to get back and get some points. That was a tough thing for me."

The Hawks entered the game 8 points out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference and now have only 22 games to play. They still believe there's plenty of time remaining to make a playoff run as long as there are no slip-ups along the way.

"We're just looking at this week now," Savard said. "We've got two to go this week and then go on to the next week. Let's get some good results in L.A."

The Hawks play the Kings on Saturday and the Ducks on Sunday.

"It's going to take the whole team," Bolland said. "We need every point and everyone going."