Win over Stars could be a season landmark

When the dust finally settles in the Western Conference playoff chase, the Blackhawks might look back on Saturday's 6-2 win over the Dallas Stars as one of the most important of the season.

A loss to the Stars would have trimmed the Hawks' hold on fourth place in the West to 5 points with a tough three-game road trip ahead this week.

But the Hawks were ready for the test and took it to the Stars from the opening faceoff.

"We didn't have enough players recognize the importance of the night," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said.

Both teams played the night before, but the Stars appeared more tired than the Hawks.

"Obviously, they're a good team and we were thinking about the two games we have with them in the next week," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "We got one of two, but we know they're going to come back hard later on this week (Saturday), so we have to be ready for that."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville was worried about the one home game stuck in the middle of a stretch of 11 on the road.

"It was a great homestand," Quenneville joked.

Time to pack - again: Three more games on the road this week and the worst of the schedule will be behind the Hawks.

After games at Tampa Bay, Florida and Dallas, the Hawks will start a stretch of 13 of 17 at the United Center, where they are 15-4-5.

"It's a tough month," Martin Havlat said. "But I think we did pretty good in those eight games on the road and now we have another tough three games coming up. We have to play the way we did those eight games and we'll be fine.

"We knew this could be the most important month because if you cannot do good on the road it's going to be tough to get in the playoffs."

Khabibulin close: Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to practice today after sitting out the last two games with a lower-body injury. If Khabibulin is ready to play or be Cristobal Huet's backup Tuesday at Tampa Bay, goalie Antti Niemi will be returned to Rockford.