Campbell’s injury puts Hawks in defensive hole

WASHINGTON — Defenseman Brian Campbell tried to play on his injured left foot Sunday but only could take eight shifts and was done for the day after putting in just seven minutes.

It put the Blackhawks in a tough spot when Campbell re-aggravated the injury.

Playing the speedy and skilled Capitals, the Hawks were forced to go with just five healthy defenseman — and at one point were down to four after Brent Seabrook got a five-minute major penalty for fighting Jason Chimera late in the second period.

“That was tough,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “We had four defensemen there for a good part of the game and five for most of the game. It wears on you, especially with a team like them with a lot of speed and who can do a good job cycling the puck down low.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Campbell was day to day. The Hawks might have to play without him Monday night against San Jose at the United Center.

“We’ll see how (Monday) is for him,” Quenneville said. “He tried to go out there and did his best.”

Quenneville was asked if Seabrook should have avoided fighting Chimera knowing the Hawks were down a defenseman.

“You could argue about the way it began,” Quenneville said. “I don’t think (Seabrook) was interested or even wanted to get in an altercation in that situation, but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Quenneville talked to the referee after the fight and appeared to question whether Chimera deserved an instigator penalty, which he did not get.

“He’s the one who sort of instigated that little dust-up there and he does a good job and takes one of their top defenders off the ice,” Capitals winger Brooks Laich said of Chimera.

Battle tested:

The Hawks were outhit 31-23 but held their own against the bigger and stronger Capitals for the most part.

“I think we are a bigger and fairly strong team, but there are teams that are definitely overall quicker, so we have to play to our strength to succeed,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said.

“I think we were overall carrying the play. We played better than them. It might not happen the next time we play them and they might not be tired from being on the road for eight or nine days, but I thought today we were the better team.”

Playing hurt:

While defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson might be one of the Hawks most beat up physically, the only games he has missed this season were the two during his two-game suspension in October.

“He’s doing what he has to do,” Joel Quenneville said. “He’s a competitive guy. He’s had a lot of injuries that he finds a way to get himself ready to play, and once he’s playing he’s fine.”

GM meetings:

Hawks general manager Stan Bowman left here following the game for Florida and the annual March GM meetings.

The main topic will be what to do about shots to the head, such as the one Dave Bolland suffered at the hands of Tampa Bay’s Pavel Kubina last week.

Bolland missed Sunday’s game and is out indefinitely with a concussion. Kubina received a three-game suspension, which hardly satisfied the Hawks.

“That’s a concern,” Joel Quenneville said of NHL’s head-shot dilemma. “I think there was an emphasis going into the season and awareness to it that’s there.”