Blackhawks look Sharp, snap 5-game losing streak
With the Blackhawks needing a victory in the worst way, all Patrick Sharp hoped to do Sunday afternoon in returning from his knee injury was help in some small way toward that result.
It turned out he did better than that.
In a difference-making comeback, Sharp scored 2 goals and added an assist as the Hawks snapped their five-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the United Center.
Sharp wasted little time making his presence felt by opening the scoring at 9:46 of the first period with a snap shot under the crossbar, then nearly jumping through the glass in celebration.
"I was just trying to play with energy and pump the guys up a little bit," Sharp said. "We needed a win badly. I don't think we've been playing particularly bad; we just haven't been getting the wins."
Sharp's pretty pass set up Martin Havlat's first of 2 goals that made it 2-0 at 4:21 of the second period. Then after the Kings closed to within 1 late in the third, Sharp banked in an empty-netter to seal the deal.
"Even if he hadn't scored it was great to have him back in the lineup," Havlat said. "You can see we can create more offensive with him in the lineup. I think he had a great first game."
With Vancouver losing late Saturday night at Phoenix, the win pushed the Hawks back into sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference by 2 points over the Canucks and 5 over Columbus with 11 games to play.
"I don't want to say a number, but I still think our motivation is to be fourth in our conference," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "In order to achieve that we've got to win some hockey games here and take care of our home ice as well and use that to our advantage."
It's going to be a tough week for the Hawks, filled with opportunities to prove they are out of their late-season funk. San Jose comes to the UC on Wednesday, followed by New Jersey on Friday and then a showdown with Vancouver on Sunday.
The win over the Kings was the Hawks' first since March 11, when they beat Carolina in a shootout. It was their first victory in regulation since March 1 against Los Angeles.
"We needed a win for our confidence across the board, and then you look at the importance of the win in the standings in the conference," Quenneville said. "It was needed and it was necessary and we can use this confidence going into our next game and try to build some momentum."
The Hawks held the Kings to just 15 shots on goal - 5 per period - with Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Brian Campbell each logging more than 22 minutes. Seabrook was credited with 7 hits.
Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was at his sharpest since returning from his injury, losing the shutout on Drew Doughty's power-play goal with 3:06 to play.
"That was our best defensive game in some time," Quenneville said. "Khabby was solid and very confident in his positioning and was good all game long.
"I thought we had more patience in our own end and were more comfortable in some situations where it looked like it could have been dangerous. Our defensive thought process in the offensive zone all the way to our end was very efficient."