Hawks stay with hot Khabibulin

Who wants to mess with success? Not Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, who will start Nikolai Khabibulin in goal for the fourth straight game tonight against the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

Led by Khabibulin, the Hawks have won the first three games on their six-game road trip.

"It's nice, but we could have lost a game here or there," Khabibulin said. "But we got 3 wins or whatever it is, and hopefully we can get some points out of the next three."

It has been Khabibulin keeping the Hawks in games at Dallas and Toronto that they eventually rallied to win after sluggish starts.

"Guys feel like they are never out of the game, the last game was proof of that," Khabibulin said, citing the Hawks' rally from a 3-0 deficit against the Maple Leafs. "Seems like guys are playing with more confidence right now and we are getting points right now and that's all that matters.

"I think we are kind of helping each other. You know with attitude or with positive energy or whatever it is, we are trying to help each other."

Injury report: Dustin Byfuglien skated by himself Tuesday but didn't practice and won't play tonight against the Sharks.

Byfuglien has missed the past two games with an upper body injury, believed to be a chest or ribs problem.

"He'll be on the trip," Joel Quenneville said. "I don't want to say we expect him to play, but he should play."

Meanwhile, defenseman James Wisniewski practiced Tuesday for the first time since undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn ACL last summer.

Wisniewski said he is shooting for a Dec. 12 return date when the Hawks play at Colorado.

Shark bait: The Hawks know they need to stay out of the penalty box against the Sharks, who scored 4 power-play goals in a 6-5 win Nov. 16 at the United Center.

"We know it's going to be a big test," Patrick Sharp said. "We know we have to stay out of the box, especially against a team like San Jose."

The Sharks own the best record in the NHL at 17-3-1 and have yet to lose at home in regulation (11-0-1).

"We've got some momentum, but they've played well at home and have a lot of weapons on their side," Joel Quenneville said.