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Late show for Hawks

It looked as if the Blackhawks would have an unhappy homecoming Wednesday night at the United Center.

Not only did they trail the Anaheim Ducks by a goal with the minutes ticking down in the third period, the big crowd of 21,574 was booing a lot of what they saw.

But with a great setup by Kris Versteeg and Duncan Keith - bang - Marty Havlat snapped in the tying goal with 5:45 to play. Then Versteeg made another terrific feed to Jonathan Toews for the go-ahead goal with 1:35 left.

An empty-net goal by Dave Bolland in the final minute sealed the deal, and just like that the Hawks had a 4-2 victory, snapping their three-game losing streak.

"Versteeg and Dunc made a great play on Havlat's goal and right then we said we could win this game, there's no reason why we couldn't," Toews said. "That was a huge turning point.

"I think we started using our body and paying the price to get the puck in the tough areas, and that's why we ended up scoring."

Nobody paid the price more than Toews, who outbattled 6-foot-6 Ducks all-star defenseman Chris Pronger behind the net for the puck, then beat Pronger back to the front of the net to score.

The goals by Havlat and Toews gave goaltender Cristobal Huet a well-deserved victory. Huet, who had been without a win (0-3-1) since Nov. 9 and was pressing to get one, made 30 saves, with 14 of them coming in the second period when the Hawks barely could get out of their own end.

"We didn't play well in the second period, or the beginning of the third either," Huet said. "It seemed like we didn't have enough speed to get into their zone."

But it was Versteeg's speed that turned the game around.

Flying down the left side with the teams playing 4-on-4, Versteeg beat defenseman Steve Montador with a move and flipped the puck back to Keith, who spotted Havlat charging to the net for the snap shot past goalie Jonas Hiller.

"(Montador) made kind of a jolt at me and right then and there I kind of made my decision to go at him 1-on-1," Versteeg said. "I guess it was a couple lucky stickhandles and got through, and a lucky play. Luckily, it all panned out."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville didn't see it as luck.

"It was a very timely goal by Havlat and a big goal by Johnny, but the guy that should get a lot of the credit is Versteeg," Quenneville said. "He made two tremendous plays on both those goals, individual highlight-type plays, and certainly it made a huge win for us."

Huet was more happy with the win as a team than for himself.

"I'm no different than the team, and we showed some great character to win that game," Huet said.

"That's a big team win and big win for Huey," Quenneville said. "I'm sure that will help his confidence. He's played well through this stretch and we hadn't rewarded him in any way. He deserves a 'W,' and I think he'll feel better going forward, too."

Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, right, blocks a shot by Chicago Blackhawks' Troy Brouwer during the first period Wednesday. Associated Press
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