Huet back in spotlight with humor intact

Apparently Cristobal Huet used part of his downtime in the playoffs to practice his deadpan humor.

The Blackhawks' 33-year-old backup goalie, who played a perfect 21 minutes to earn the Game 3 win on Friday after Nikolai Khabibulin suffered a "lower-body injury," reminisced Saturday about his playoff memories of seasons past.

"Usually you don't skip the first and second round," Huet cracked.

And the first-year Blackhawk, who hadn't played in 41 days until he took over in the third period Friday, admitted he reviewed his performance on video.

"I looked composed," he said.

But was he composed?

"Yeah, I suppose," he joked.

But seriously, folks, Huet understands his Game 3 relief work bore little resemblance to what should be coming in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals today.

"We only gave up 6 shots and very few were scoring chances," Huet said. "I wasn't really tested the whole game. So, really, my test is going to be (today)."

Well, it'll probably come today.

While Khabibulin didn't show his face before, during or after the Hawks' 30-minute skate Saturday, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville offered hope he might be able to make his 15th consecutive playoff start.

" 'Khabi' is doing better today," Quenneville said. "We'll see how he presents tomorrow, but good progress. We'll make that (starting) determination tomorrow."

Considering Quenneville expounded much more positively on Martin Havlat, it sounds like Huet will make his first playoff start since last season with Washington.

Huet played the Capitals' entire seven-game series against Philadelphia and compiled a 3-4 record with a 2.93 goals against average.

More relevant to Game 4, Huet already has 188 minutes of mixed experience against the Red Wings this season.

He lost a 5-4 shootout at Detroit on Dec. 6, then started the Winter Classic on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field and got yanked with 16 minutes left after surrendering his sixth goal.

Huet gained a measure of confidence when he earned a 4-2 victory at Detroit on April 11 - his last live action prior to Friday night.

He never envisioned such a layoff when he signed his four-year, $22.5 million deal with the Hawks on July 1.

"It's been a different season, definitely," Huet said. "Obviously (Khabibulin) got the call at the end of the season, but he was playing so well it was tough to argue, you know? So I just stayed patient and worked hard for an opportunity like this."

Detroit coach Mike Babcock hopes Huet has to work a lot harder Sunday than he did on Friday.

"We had tons of opportunities to shoot the puck in the third period," Babcock said. "For whatever reason, we wouldn't. We should've made it harder on the goalie. We'll try to do that tomorrow."