Not perfect - but it's a win for Blackhawks

The first day of the rest of the season began at 2 p.m. Wednesday for the Blackhawks, and because general manager Stan Bowman didn't acquire a veteran goalie by the trade deadline, it's now left up to the tandem of Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi to patrol the net the rest of the way.

It sure wasn't difficult to gauge how the fans at the United Center felt about that development.

When Huet, whose name had been brought up in trade rumors all week, was introduced as the starter Wednesday, the response from the sellout crowd (22.204) was lukewarm at best.

"Anytime there are rumors like that it's no fun," Huet admitted afterward.

But as the night wore on, the veteran goalie appeared to be slowly winning over the big crowd. He turned away 6 shots in the first period and had a shutout going late into the second ... but then Edmonton scored twice in less than 60 seconds and suddenly the Hawks were trailing and the fans were stirring, images of Tuesday's ugly loss to the Islanders in their heads.

"I thought he was OK in the first period and then in the second, all of a sudden there's two goals and it's a hockey game," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

"We knew as a team we were going to come back," said Hawks captain Jonathan Toews, who did his part with a goal and an assist.

Toews was right. Unlike the previous night, it wasn't a case of here we go again because the Hawks rallied back late to pull away for a 5-2 victory over the Oilers, a win that put them in a tie with San Jose for the top spot in the Western Conference with 89 points.

"That was a big win," Quenneville. "I thought as a team we got better and better as the game went on."

Marian Hossa's 18th goal of the season, off a nice assist from Dave Bolland, gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead early in the second period. And after Edmonton took the lead, Bolland (4) and Hossa combined again, this time to tie things up and set the stage for a big third period.

"We didn't play well in the first period," Hossa said. "In the second and third we started taking the puck to the net and started scoring goals."

And the game-winner came just 20 seconds into the third when defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson snapped a 2-2 tie with a blast from the point which beat Devan Dubnyk. It was Hjalmarsson's second goal of the season and his first in his last 49 games.

"I basically closed my eyes and went for it," Hjalmarsson said with a smile. "But we found a way to win the game and that's what really matters."

Toews and Dustin Byfuglien closed out the scoring.

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<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=363472">With trade deadline gone, Hawks put their faith in Huet, Niemi<span class="date"> [3/3/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=363501">Sharks also quiet on deadline day<span class="date"> [3/3/10]</span></a></li>

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