Power-play failure costs Blackhawks in OT loss

The Blackhawks had so many 5-on-3 power-play opportunities Friday night that coach Joel Quenneville lost count. Quenneville thought the Hawks had four when they actually had five.

Maybe Quenneville was thinking of the four failures that cost the Hawks dearly in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers at the United Center.

"You counted five?" Quenneville said. "Well, we almost declined the last one."

That's the one the Hawks cashed in on with 4:29 to play in regulation when Brent Seabrook blew a slap shot past Rangers goalie Henrik Lindqvist to tie it.

But a bad slashing penalty by Andrew Ladd in OT resulted in Chris Drury's power-play winner.

The Hawks were 1-for-11 on the power play for the night, including the four failed 5-on-3 chances.

"I don't think we had that many quality opportunities," Hawks defenseman Cam Barker said. "When you have that many 5-on-3s, you should have more chances than that. We need to execute better and get more pucks through and more guys screening the goalie."

Leading 1-0 on a Jonathan Toews goal, the Hawks had a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes late in the first period that could have put the Rangers in a huge hole.

"I don't think I've ever had that many 5-on-3s, but you've got to find a way," Brian Campbell said. "You've got to have that killer instinct to put it away."

Even at the morning skate Quenneville talked about how the power play needed to be better. The Hawks are 4-for-35 in the last seven games.

"We'll take a point," Quenneville said. "We were fortunate to get 1 tonight. Our power play has got to be better than that."

Every point counts as the Hawks try to grind it out to the all-star break. With Friday's, they increased their hold on fourth place in the Western Conference to 7 points over Anaheim.

The Rangers showed why they came into game ranked second in the NHL in penalty-killing, but their power play was 27th and they were able to score twice.

Drury scored on a tip-in off a faceoff on the 4-on-3 power play in OT after Ladd chopped the stick out of Brandon Dubinsky's hands.

"You can't take that penalty in overtime," Quenneville said.

Drury also scored on a 5-on-3 power play early in the second period after Barker was sent off for instigating a fight with Dan Girardi, who had leveled Kris Versteeg with a high hit. Seabrook was already serving a minor for tripping.

Barker claimed he shouldn't have been penalized because Girardi dropped his gloves first.

"They were off before mine and obviously I got the extra (penalty) and they scored," Barker said. "I didn't think it was an instigator penalty. I talked to (the referee) on the way to the box and he just said it was an instigator. I don't know if he was trying to make up for all those 5-on-3s or what, but he made the call, and that was it."

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