Do the Hawks have a goalie controversy brewing?

Two interesting statistics emerged from the Blackhawks' 2-1 win at St. Louis on Saturday night.

• It was only the ninth time in 58 games the Hawks were outshot by an opponent (35-30).

• Antti Niemi has started six of those nine games and with the victory at Scottrade Center boosted his record to 5-1.

Let that second stat sink in for a minute.

In games in which the Hawks have needed their goaltender to be really good, Niemi has answered the challenge.

Maybe there's a goalie controversy brewing, and maybe there isn't. Only Stan Bowman's inner circle knows what the general manager is thinking.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville still considers Cristobal Huet to be his No. 1 guy, but anything and everything is subject to change with the NHL's two trade deadlines and the start of the playoffs getting closer with each passing day.

Quenneville will announce his starting goalie for Tuesday's game against Dallas at the United Center after practice Monday, but no matter who gets the nod the most important thing is keeping the momentum provided by the big win in St. Louis.

The Hawks have just three games left on the schedule before the two-week Olympic break.

"It's important that we try to sustain something like this win and go into the break on a positive note," Quenneville said. "I still think we've got to concentrate each and every night to get our emotion level as high as we can. We haven't beaten Dallas, and that should create an appetite as well."

Saturday's victory was the Hawks' best team game, on an intensity level, since their Jan. 28 overtime win at San Jose, which was followed by losses to Carolina, St. Louis and Phoenix.

The loss Friday to the Coyotes had Hawks captain Jonathan Toews questioning the team's energy level, but they came to play as a group in St. Louis.

"We had to play with a little more urgency, and that's what we did," Toews said. "We're happy about that, but it's about what we do from now on. It's about carrying that effort every single night from here on out.

"We had a bit of a lapse as far as development goes in the last week-and-a-half, but we'll get right back on track here."

Helping ignite Saturday's win was Quenneville's decision to put Patrick Sharp back on the first line at left wing with Toews and Patrick Kane.

Sharp and Toews scored in the first period to get the Hawks off to a good start, and the trio also did their job shutting down the Blues' top line of David Backes, Paul Kariya and T.J. Oshie.

"The message from the coaching staff was to be aware defensively and focus on our own end and we should have no problem creating offensively," Sharp said.

Toews, Sharp and Kane have had some big games in the past and figure to stay together for the next little while.

"We started to have success together a long time ago and every time we get reunited we've found a way to spark something," Toews said.