Toews' first fight not likely to win any awards

It took almost a quarter of the way into his second season for Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews to experience another career first.

His first fight.

Toews dropped the gloves with Martin Hanzal of the Coyotes early in the third period of the Hawks' 3-2 win. It certainly wasn't a scrap that will make Hawks fans forget about Dave Manson or Bob Probert anytime soon.

"In the box, I actually had to ask the guy if they gave us five minutes," Toews said. "I don't know if you'd even call that a fight."

Neither player got in a good punch before wrestling to the ice.

"He's a guy I thought I could handle," Toews said. "It probably wasn't a good time to fight, but he wanted to go. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but at least I got out of it without getting hurt. That was the main thing."

Toews had his first Gordie Howe hat trick, so to speak. He had a fight, an assist and scored a goal, although it came in the shootout.

Toews and Patrick Sharp connected in the shootout, giving the Hawks just their second shootout win in six tries.

"We were tired of getting that far and not getting the 2 points," Toews said. "We made it a point to bear down and we made it happen."

Message sent: Patrick Sharp had a strong start and strong finish in Tuesday's win in Arizona. The second period was another story as Sharp was benched by coach Joel Quenneville after taking 2 minor penalties.

Sharp played only four shifts in the middle period, one after taking a high-sticking penalty at 6:42.

Patrick Kane played only three shifts in the second period for a total of 72 seconds after taking a pair of hooking minors.

No doubt about it: Joel Quenneville said Wednesday that Nikolai Khabibulin would start again in goal tonight against Dallas.

Khabibulin made 36 saves in regulation and overtime against Phoenix, then went 2-for-2 in the shootout.

"He was big in the net," Quenneville said. "He's been doing that every night he's been in there for us."