Hawks' promising December on ice has melted

As much as the Blackhawks looked forward to playing nine of 12 games at the United Center during December, now they kind of wish the month would hurry up and end.

The Hawks have lost six of seven this month, including four of five at home.

Their 3-1 loss to a mediocre Florida Panthers team Sunday was not only another missed opportunity to grab 2 points at home, it was the kind of game that leaves doubt as to whether this Hawks team is good enough to make the playoffs without another addition or two.

The Hawks have scored 2 or fewer goals in eight of their last 12 games, thanks in large part to a power play that has lost its way. The Hawks are 6 for their last 58 on the power play and desperately missing the injured Jason Williams at the left point.

"We're not taking what's given to us," Hawks coach Denis Savard said. "We've had chances to shoot the puck and we didn't. I know that (assistant coaches John Torchetti and Ryan Stewart) talk to our players about that, get more pucks to the net, and when it's there we've got to take it. We're going to continue to emphasize that; it's all we can do."

On the bright side, the Hawks woke up Monday morning just 2 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Hawks are a three-game winning streak from being right back near the top of the conference, but the turnaround has to start at home. The Hawks are only 9-9-0 at the United Center, with four of the next five games there before the month ends.

"This month's not over yet, but it certainly was a great opportunity at the beginning of the month to gain some much-needed points and maybe separate from a lot of other teams," center Patrick Sharp said.

"It turns out being the opposite, and it's really frustrating. But we can't hang our heads. We've got to dig ourselves out of this."

The Hawks have three games to play before the two-day Christmas break, but it's not going to be easy to go 3-0.

They host Nashville on Wednesday, and the Predators already have beaten the Hawks twice this season. Then Saturday the Hawks travel to Ottawa to play the best team in the Eastern Conference. The surging Edmonton Oilers come to town Sunday night.

"It seems like we do a lot of things right, but we can't seem to score any goals," defenseman Brent Seabrook said.

The Hawks definitely are not sneaking up on teams anymore. Rookies Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are getting checked even closer, and Martin Havlat and Robert Lang have been unable to produce consistently to draw the defensive attention away from the kids.

Lang has 3 goals in the last 18 games.

"Everybody watches tape, obviously, and we had a lot of success early," Seabrook said. "Teams obviously have a game plan coming in just as we do, and they seem to be shutting stuff down right now.

"But at the same time we're getting a lot of opportunities and we have to keep that going."