Blackhawks shut out in shootouts

Following a day off, the Blackhawks picked right back up Monday right where they left off late Saturday — trying like heck to figure out why they've been struggling in shootouts.

Asked if there was anything specific he was looking for at practice, coach Joel Quenneville summed it up in a word.

“Production,” he said, after watching his guys fail on three attempts in a 5-4 loss to Colorado two nights earlier, making them 0-for-6 during shootouts for the season.

“We've got to at least score 1 goal … 0-for-6 … not very good,” said Patrick Kane, who along with Jonathan Toews are a combined 0-for-4 in shootouts.

“We talked about it and obviously we worked on it. You have to go on instincts, but it really hasn't been there for us this year.”

“Shootouts are a funny thing. Sometimes it's just a little thing that is the difference between scoring or not,” Marian Hossa said. “In the last two, I think Tazer and Kaner, they beat the goalies, but they were maybe too close. Otherwise those would be sure goals.”

On Saturday, Quenneville selected Viktor Stalberg as the surprise leadoff man in the shootout. And Stalberg was surprised again Monday when a herd of reporters surrounded him to talk about it.

“I don't know if it's a problem or not,” he said. “Obviously, you want to get those points.”

And it appears Quenneville is willing to shake things up a bit to accomplish that.

Asked if he was holding an open audition for the third shooter, assuming Kane and Toews already are locks, Quenneville said, “I think you're on the right track.”

“We're discussing orders; we're talking candidates and whose shooting first and second,” he said. “In all phases we're revisiting, and I think when things don't work you look at options.”

But he knows it's a fine line between harping on the shootout failures and just letting his stars be his stars.

“It's something you want to talk about, but at the same time you don't want the guys who are going all of a sudden under more pressure,” Quenneville said.

“It's a recent trend where we haven't been anywhere near effective as we were. We know we can be better.”

The players agree.

“It's a matter of time before we get better at it,” Kane said. “There's too much talent in the room and too many players that should score on those that haven't. We'll be fine.”