Havlat's play a positive, but it's a disappointing Hawks home loss

Credit Martin Havlat with helping the Blackhawks salvage something out of another loss.

By far the best player on the ice for either team Friday night at the United Center, Havlat at least got the Hawks to overtime with a tying goal at 7:23 of the third period, but it was the Edmonton Oilers taking away a 5-4 win in a shootout.

The 1 point put the Hawks back into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with the Vancouver Canucks with 85, but it was another opportunity lost on home ice despite a better effort.

"I thought we played good enough to win," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "You lose in a shootout, but it's a loss, and a loss is a loss."

The Hawks know all too well about losses lately, now having dropped five in a row and seven of their last eight.

Four times they let the Oilers grab a lead only to battle back on goals by Dave Bolland, Adam Burish, Cam Barker and finally Havlat, who also had an assist and 6 of the Hawks' 43 shots.

The shootout was a disaster on all fronts. The Hawks are now 3-6 in shootouts with goalie Nikolai Khabibulin a personal 1-4.

Jonathan Toews began the shootout by fanning on his attempt. Then after Patrick O'Sullivan beat Khabibulin, Patrick Kane couldn't sneak in a stuff try against Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson.

Edmonton's Ales Kotalik then ended it with a shot past Khabibulin.

It was a frustrating ending for Toews, who also failed on a penalty shot with 7:03 to play and the scored tied at 4-4.

Toews tried to beat Roloson through the pads only to see the hole close quickly.

"I just tried to stay with him and made the save," Roloson said.

"It's disappointing," Toews said. "I had an opportunity to make a huge impact on that game and help us break through there. It's going to be hard to get over that now."

With only 12 games to play, the Hawks are staggering to the finish line. They did move 5 points ahead of sixth-place Columbus with the Oilers now just 6 back.

"The guys worked hard tonight, but we still made a few mistakes and gave up a few goals maybe we shouldn't have," Toews said. "But I think for the most part we worked hard and everyone stepped up their game.

"Nothing discouraged us and nothing stopped us tonight. We kept coming back and never stopped. We're going to stick with it. Times like this are going to make us better and closer as a team. It's tough to see the light, but you have to stay positive. It's the only thing you can do right now."

Khabibulin was so-so in his third straight game since returning from his groin injury.

The goal that hurt the most was Sam Gagner's late in the second period to make it 4-3, coming just 48 seconds after Barker tied it. The Hawks got caught in a bad line change and defenseman Matt Walker failed to stay back.

"We've got time," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "The effort has been there the past few games. We got points in those games and easily could have won either game."

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