Hawks happy to have Khabibulin back

With the Blackhawks looking like a team in need of a spark, perhaps Nikolai Khabibulin's return to the nets couldn't come at a better time.

"I don't look at it that way," said Khabibulin, who will make his first start since Feb. 11 today at the United Center when the Hawks host the New York Islanders.

"You cannot expect one guy to change something like that. It's still a team and we still have to do our jobs. If we all do our jobs, we should be in good shape."

Khabibulin missed 14 games with what was believed to be a groin injury - and the Hawks were treading water without him at 7-6-1. While Cristobal Huet had some great moments in that stretch, there were other times when Khabibulin might have meant the difference between winning and losing.

Khabibulin is having his best season with the Hawks, with only 5 losses in regulation (17-5-5), a 2.37 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

"He's had a great year for us and his presence and the way he's played all year long should help solidify the net," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "It's good to get him back in the lineup. He's looked good in practice and you gain confidence when he's there.

"I think he's had that type of year where we expect him to continue on doing all the right things."

With 16 games to play and a playoff spot still not secured, it's up to Quenneville to decide how much he uses Khabibulin down the stretch. The Hawks have only four sets of back-to-back games the rest of the way.

"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves," Quenneville said. "We're basically going one game and one day at a time here, but I think in his situation we want to make sure he's comfortable and feeling good. That's the important thing because if he feels like that, I think that will help his game.

"At the same time, we want to make sure he's comfortable with the workload and we'll try to get him prepared each and every day so he's at his best as we go along here. He's going to play and I think he'll dictate to us how much."

Of course, the concern is Khabibulin getting hurt for a third time when the Hawks need him most.

So far, Khabibulin has missed 20 of the Hawks' 66 games with groin issues.

Khabibulin was hesitant to say how much he wants to play to be at his best come playoff time, preferring to talk about what the team must do.

"We don't have too many games left, and obviously we want to go in feeling good about ourselves, everybody individually and team wise," Khabibulin said. "The last 16 games we have to gear up for the playoffs because every game there is going to be very tight. We have to learn how to win games like that. It's going to be a good test for us and good experience."

The Hawks are 1-3 in their last four games, and their hold on fourth place in the Western Conference is down to 4 points over Vancouver.

"I think the guys are still confident as a team," Khabibulin said.

"I think we definitely want to have home-ice advantage. We've played pretty well for the most part at home with having the fans supporting us, it can be a good advantage for us."

• Patrick Kane, Martin Havlat and Dave Bolland didn't practice Saturday but are expected to play today. Kane chipped several teeth during a collision with teammate Jonathan Toews in Friday's 5-3 loss to Columbus.