Blackhawks still winless in the preseason

It's only the preseason, right?

Maybe so, but the Blackhawks are running out of time to get their game in order.

The Hawks remained winless in the exhibition season Wednesday night with a 6-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.

Goalie Corey Crawford allowed 6 goals, and the offense sputtered for the third game in a row. The Hawks have scored only 4 goals in their 3 losses in the preseason.

The Hawks have only one more game on North American ice, Friday against Minnesota at the United Center, before heading to Europe.

Before Wednesday's game, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville spoke about what he wanted to see from his team.

"I think we want to make sure we sustain the energy from start to finish, and we'd like to see more goals," he said.

The power play came through with goals from Troy Brouwer and Patrick Sharp, and that was Wednesday's bright spot.

The Capitals got 2 goals and an assist from Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble.

Crawford played the entire game as his battle with Antti Niemi for the backup job continued. Niemi was in goal for Sunday's 3-1 loss at Minnesota.

With Quenneville saying Cristobal Huet would start and play the whole way in Friday's game against Minnesota, the backup battle will continue in Europe.

The Hawks play their final two preseason games Monday and Tuesday in Zurich, Switzerland, against HC Davos and ZSC Zurich.

The Hawks still have 28 players on the roster with more cuts expected either Thursday or Friday. Quenneville said only 23-25 players are going to Europe.

Quenneville has a lot to sort out in the week leading up to Oct. 2 regular-season opener against Florida in Helsinki, Finland.

The fourth-line chemistry took a major hit Tuesday when Adam Burish was lost for the next six months with a torn ACL in his right knee.

"It's unfortunate that it's so serious and he's going to be out that long, but we have guys in here who can fill that spot," said fourth-line left winger Ben Eager.

"We were comfortable playing with each other, and we knew where each other was. We both work hard and try to be hard to play against, but that's the way it goes. We're going to have to make up for the loss."