Hawks catching Sharks team without as much bite
If there is such a thing as a good time to play the San Jose Sharks, it might be right now.
It'll be a banged-up Sharks team that comes to the United Center with its 106 points Wednesday night to play the Blackhawks.
The Sharks will be without injured regulars Rob Blake, Ryane Clowe, Mike Grier and Marcel Goc. In addition, second-leading scorer Patrick Marleau stayed back in California to be with his wife for the birth of a child.
"I know they've got some guys out of their lineup, but that doesn't necessarily mean their team game is not where it was at their strong points all year," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
This is the first of three critical home games for the Hawks, who are trying to hold off Vancouver and Columbus for fourth place in the Western Conference.
Eastern Conference powerhouse New Jersey comes to town Friday, followed by the Canucks on Sunday night.
"We're trying to build on what we've done all year," captain Jonathan Toews said. "As far as I'm concerned the playoffs have already started."
The Hawks have lost five of their last six games, but Sunday's 4-1 win over Los Angeles went a long way in ridding the dressing room of some of the doubt that had been starting to affect the hockey club.
"It would be tough for any team for it not be depressing, but I think we still had a positive moral and we still had good practices," Toews said.
"Sometimes it's discouraging and it brings your team down when you lose a bunch of games in a row like that, but we stayed positive throughout that entire week or so.
"Now it feels good to get that confidence back and get a win under your belt and know that it's actually possible that you can win a game. Sometimes you kind of tend to forget what you're capable of as a team. We definitely have to use that confidence right now."
The Hawks have played as well as anyone against the Sharks. They lost 6-5 on Nov. 16 at the UC, blowing a third-period lead, then dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime Nov. 26 in San Jose.
The Hawks beat the Sharks 4-2 at HP Pavilion on Jan. 31 behind Nikolai Khabibulin in what might have been their most complete game of the season.
Khabibulin starts in goal again Wednesday night.
"That was one of those games where we were firing on all cylinders," Quenneville said. "The pace of the game seems to be on a high end against them. Certainly we'd like to bottle that last time we saw them."
If Quenneville thinks this is a good time for the Hawks to be playing competition such as the Sharks and the Devils, he isn't saying so publicly.
"Certainly you know you have to be at your best," Quenneville said. "You can get excited going into it and hopefully good things come out of it."
Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks
Where: United Center, 7:30 p.m.
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WGN 720-AM
At a glance: The Sharks are 48-14-10 for 106 points and in a nip-and-tuck scramble with Detroit and Boston for the President's Trophy. San Jose is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games and has seven players with 50 points or more. The Sharks lead the season series 2-1, which includes a win in overtime. The Hawks won the last meeting 4-2 on Jan. 31 in San Jose and are 5-for-10 on the power play in the three games.
Next: New Jersey Devils at the United Center, 7:30 p.m. Friday