Havlat leads Hawks after Sharp's injury

On a night when the Blackhawks might have lost Patrick Sharp for an extended period of time, Martin Havlat stepped up big time.

Havlat was one of the best players on the ice in the Hawks' 6-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday at the United Center, scoring twice with an assist and turning in one of the better defensive plays of the year that led to one of his goals.

"We needed a win because the last three games we didn't play the way we wanted," Havlat said.

The Hawks are going to need Havlat more than ever if Sharp is out long term. Sharp hurt what appeared to be his left knee 39 seconds into the first period on a hit along the boards by Steve Ott and couldn't put any pressure on the leg as he was helped to the dressing room.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Sharp would not be going on the three-game road this week, leaving the injury at that.

"We'll know more on Monday," Quenneville said.

"It's going to be tough because he's a key guy in our lineup," Dave Bolland said. "We're going to lose him, but we have to have guys take on other roles."

Sharp leads the Hawks with 23 goals, but Havlat is closing in with 19. Toews got his 18th goal and also dished out 2 assists.

"Havlat, you can talk about a lot of guys - I thought Johnny Toews was great, (Troy) Brouwer was great, (Dustin) Byfuglien," Quenneville said. "I think every line had some guys that were really contributing in a lot of ways.

"We were coming off three games that weren't at the pace we like, but tonight was what we were hoping for."

Byfuglien and James Wisniewski, benched the last two games, were back in the lineup and ready to go as they helped set a physical tone early. Byfuglien had 6 shots on goal and 3 hits. Wisniewski was credited with just 1 hit but had a lot more than that.

"I thought Buff had a great game tonight," Quenneville said. "He did everything that makes him a top player. I thought he was physical, was quick and went to the net hard."

Cristobal Huet faced only 18 shots but was sharp in the victory that extended the Hawks' hold on fourth place in the Western Conference to 9 points over Dallas and Anaheim.

The Hawks didn't get much of a chance to savor their 5-3 road trip, having to play the day after it ended, but they took advantage of the energy from another big crowd at the UC.

"We really needed that energy from the fans, and we got what we needed," Toews said.

Brouwer's first-period goal put the Hawks ahead, then it was Havlat time in the second.

Havlat made it 2-0 at 4:06, converting a pass from Toews, after he set up the scoring chance himself with a burst of speed down the left side to the net. Havlat's second goal at 11:46 came after he raced back into his own end to break up a Dallas 3-on-1.

"I made a bad play before that and I was just trying to get back as soon as possible," he said. "It turned out pretty good at the end."