Final verdict on Mitchell hit: clean

As a defenseman, Cam Barker thinks most guys who play the position would have hit Jonathan Toews the way Vancouver's Willie Mitchell did Wednesday.

"I think for the most part everyone's going to take that hit," Barker said.

Mitchell had just left the penalty box when he hit Toews shoulder to chin in the center circle after the Blackhawks' captain had received a pass. Toews never saw Mitchell coming and had to miss the last 14 minutes of the game.

Mitchell said if he hadn't crunched Toews, the Hawks would have had a developing odd-man rush.

"I had no choice," Mitchell said. "If I swing at the puck or swung at his stick, it would have been a 3-on-2. I got him pretty good. Hopefully he's all right. It was a clean hit, but you don't want to see anyone get hurt."

Nobody among the Hawks thought the hit was dirty.

"It was a clean hit," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "When he came out of the box he was there. When (Toews) was there originally (Mitchell) wasn't there."

Backup plan: If Jonathan Toews can't play Saturday against Nashville, then Andrew Ebbett would center one of the top three lines in Toews' place.

"I think we have options," Joel Quenneville said. "Andy is a centerman that played an offensive-type role in Anaheim."

Ebbett centered for Patrick Sharp and Troy Brouwer in practice Thursday.

What to do? The Hawks might have as many as 4 more points had they been better on their four 5-on-3 power plays this season. They are 0-for-4 with each of the two-man advantages lasting 55 seconds or more.

"If you look back, there's a couple points we left on the table because of that," admitted Joel Quenneville.

The Hawks failed on a 66-second, 5-on-3 in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Vancouver. It came with them leading 2-1 early in the third period and could have helped put the Canucks away.

"We'd like to finish it off, but we didn't generate the quality that we could have or should have," Quenneville said.

Quenneville hinted he might try something different during the next two-man advantage.

"We're getting shots through," point man Cam Barker said. "We've got to be a little bit more patient. We're forcing things too much. Everyone's trying to get that goal to break that funk."

Tip-ins: Dave Bolland, Duncan Keith and Andrew Ladd didn't practice Thursday because of "maintenance," Joel Quenneville said. ... Quenneville will announce today whether Cristobal Huet or Antti Niemi faces the Predators.