Hawks just won't go away

With one week to go in the NHL season, the Blackhawks are refusing to go away in their pursuit of a playoff spot.

The Hawks came face to face with what likely would have been the end on several occasions Sunday night at a sold-out United Center, only to rally from behind twice to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in a shootout.

"We're still in the race here with three games to go," Patrick Sharp said. "It's looked like we've been eliminated a few times here and we just keep playing and gaining points.

"We can't control what other teams are doing, so we've just got to keep winning our games and figure it out at the end of the season."

The Hawks trailed 3-1 in the second period, only to draw even on power-play goals by Jason Williams and Sharp, his 36th of the season.

It looked bad again when the Blue Jackets' Derek MacKenzie scored early in the third period to make it 4-3 after some sloppy defensive play by the Hawks.

But Yanic Perreault's goal with 6:18 to play drew the Hawks even again.

Patrick Kane scored the only goal in the shootout, roofing a backhander, and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was perfect.

Khabibulin made 31 saves and kept the Hawks in it when it looked like the game might get out of hand.

"He stood tall for us when it was 3-1," Hawks coach Denis Savard said of Khabibulin. "We knew the next goal probably meant our season."

The Hawks were outshot 11-5 and trailed 2-1 after a lackluster first period. Veteran Craig Adams spoke up to rally his teammates, and Savard put in his two cents.

"I said this was probably the biggest period we were going to face all year," Savard said. "I told them they had to find a way, to dig down, and everybody stepped up, really."

The Hawks outshot the Blue Jackets 16-7 in the second period and scored twice.

"Our backs were against the wall, and if we lose that period our season is over, so we kind of rallied around each other and played a pretty good period," Sharp said.

Time was ticking down on the Hawks when Perreault tapped home a Cam Barker rebound. The puck couldn't have gone much slower over the goal line as a Columbus defender arrived a split second too late.

"It passed the line a little slow, but that's OK," said Perreault, a late addition to the lineup when Dave Bolland's ankle became too sore to play. "The way we came back says a lot about this team."

It was Kane's seventh goal in 9 shootout attempts this season. His teammates are a combined 3-for-17.

"Thank God we have Kaner in the shootout," Sharp said.

It's not going to be an easy final week for the Hawks, especially with two of their last three games against the Red Wings.

The Hawks host Detroit on Wednesday, Nashville on Friday then finish at Joe Louis Arena on Sunday afternoon.

"It's going to come right down to the last game," Duncan Keith said. "We have three games left and we have to be prepared and focused like we never have before to give ourselves a chance."