Helmets off to Toews for hat trick

Of all the nights to register the first hat trick of his NHL career, Jonathan Toews waited for this one:

Construction Helmet Giveaway Night.

That's right, Construction Helmet Giveaway Night, meaning in celebration of Toews' third goal of the night late in the second period, hundreds and hundreds of red plastic orbs rained down on the ice from all reaches of the United Center, some doinking fans in the lower bowl, some bouncing harmlessly off the ice, one even clanking Toews on the noggin.

"I got smoked in the head there as I was going by the bench," Toews said through a newly chipped front tooth following a 5-4 overtime loss. "I think it was pretty cool."

As it turned out, he would get another chance to enjoy the spectacle after officials waved off what would have been his third goal of the evening, claiming his stick was too high on the deflection.

"To be completely honest, I wasn't too sure," Toews said of whether it was indeed a high stick. "When I saw the replay, I was pretty confident they were going to call it a goal."

His coach wasn't.

"I'm 0-for-100 on that call," Joel Quenneville simmered. "I knew what was going to happen on that stoppage."

Toews eventually got his "second" hat trick goal of the evening less than two minutes into the third when he took a sweet pass from Cam Barker and swept it past Marc-Andre Fleury from the side of the net.

"I figured I better try hard to get my next one in and at least let the fans go home with something to talk about," Toews said.

And when he scored, it triggered yet another onslaught of helmets from above and another 10-minute stop in the action.

"It was a good night to give hats away," Quenneville said.

Toews' third goal was his 25th of the season, bettering his total of 24 from last season, his rookie year.

"Johnny's gotten better and better every game," Quenneville said. "He had a special night."

Just not special enough to please the Captain.

"It's fun to score but we wanted the 2 points," Toews said. "That's what the big picture is all about. It's rough that we didn't finish it off."