Two-man advantage not working in Hawk's favor

LOS ANGELES -- The old saying in hockey, and one that Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville believes deeply in, is that when you have a 5 on 3 power play, you better take advantage.

Or else.

It was or else again for the Hawks Wednesday night in San Jose, trailing 3-1 and with the two-man advantage. But for the fourth time this season they failed to take advantage and ultimately fell to the Sharks 5-2.

“We had couple of good looks at it and it was certainly an opportunity to get ourselves back in it there,” Quenneville said. “We couldn't cash it in.”

The Hawks are now 0-for-4 for the season on the two-man advantage and Quenneville knows those numbers have to change.

“No question,” he said. “We have to bury it, we have to put it in. That was a very meaningful one.”

Niemi finally says yes:

After claiming for a couple of days that playing against his former team wouldn't be that big of a deal, Sharks goalie Anttii Niemi admitted things changed for him minutes before Wednesday's faceoff against the Blackhawks.

“Maybe during the warmups, starting to see all the guys on the other side, it started to feel a little bit more than just a normal game,” Niemi said. “But I was able to keep my head pretty calm there.”

Even when some of his former mates tried to make small talk during the game, Niemi didn't bite.

“Some guys were trying to say something,” Niemi said, “but I just closed my mind. Nothing.”

Still within reach:

With two games remaining on the final leg of the circus road trip, the Hawks still have a chance to hit their magic number.

“Well, the goal was to get at least 4 points,” Jonathan Toews said. “If we do a few things different here and there, bear down on our power play and penalty kill, we'll give ourselves a better chance to win the next two games.”