Johnson returns, provides spark for Blackhawks

The Blackhawks signed Ryan Johnson for a reason midway through December, and the veteran center showed why on Sunday.

Returning to the lineup after a week on injured reserve because of a concussion, Johnson helped spark the penalty-killers to a 4-for-4 day and won 9 of 12 faceoffs in the Hawks’ 3-2 win over Pittsburgh in a shootout.

Johnson also blocked 2 shots on Pittsburgh power plays.

The Hawks killed a four-minute high-sticking penalty by Patrick Sharp late in the first period and into the second, then killed 53 seconds of a Penguins 4-on-3 power play in overtime.

“Ryan Johnson was huge coming back from an injury,” Sharp said. “When he dives and blocks shots and battles the way he does, it breathes a lot of life into the team.”

Hawks assistant coach Mike Haviland said before the game that getting Johnson back was key on two fronts.

“Certainly he brings (faceoffs) for sure and a little veteran (presence) that we can use too,” Haviland said.

“It was fun to see him sliding across the ice, blocking shots,” Jonathan Toews said. “We haven’t had too much of that from our forwards and he’s the type of guy we can learn from.

“He definitely gave us a boost. The other night we weren’t that great on faceoffs especially on the penalty-kill, so we were better there and he definitely helped us.”

Quenneville update:

There was no word from the Hawks on Sunday about when Joel Quenneville might return to the bench, although either practice on Wednesday or Thursday’s game at Nashville are possibilities.

Quenneville was released from the hospital Saturday after being treated for a bleeding ulcer. Assistant coach Mike Haviland, who filled in Sunday for the third straight game, said he spoke with Quenneville before facing the Penguins.

“He’s home so that’s a great sign,” Haviland said. “He feels great. Hopefully we get him back soon.”

Haviland juggled lines Sunday, likely on a suggestion from the boss, but for the most part Haviland said Quenneville wants him and Mike Kitchen to do what they think is best.

“We talk about things, but he wants Kitch and I to use our instincts back there,” Haviland said. “We both have done it so he said go with our instincts and make the adjustment you think needs to be made. He has full trust in us and that’s great to hear.”

Among the line changes saw Bryan Bickell replace Michael Frolik on the second line with Dave Bolland and Marian Hossa, and Tomas Kopecky go from centering the third line to playing wing on the fourth line.

Jake Dowell centered the third line for Frolik and Troy Brouwer.

View from Pittsburgh:

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was asked again Sunday about how the Hawks are being affected by the so-called Stanley Cup hangover.

“I think every coach tries to find out what a Stanley Cup hangover is after they’ve won,” said Bylsma, who guided the Penguins to the Cup in 2009. “It’s a great problem to try and figure out, but no one really can put their finger on it.

“I think there are challenges with the mind-set of your group. I think there are challenges of rebuilding your team, and I mean that not from different players, but starting back how your team should play how you win hockey games and not looking back at what we did last year.

“We found that. We talked about what we needed to do and felt we could do, but we just weren’t able have that mix and build our team and have confidence on how we were going to win games. We were an OK team, but we didn’t have the same kind of togetherness at how we’re going to win games as we did the previous year.”