Hawks must keep foot on the gas

In a quirk in the schedule, the Blackhawks play their next five games against teams from the Eastern Conference starting tonight with the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center.

The Hawks just came off a stretch of five critical games against Western Conference teams and went 5-0.

“It’s going to be a little different playing teams we haven’t seen and aren’t too familiar with, but the importance of the points is still there,” winger Patrick Sharp said. “We jumped from 11th or 12th to fourth or fifth and in just a matter of six games we can go the other way if we take our foot off the gas.

“There’s no reason to take these games lightly. We’ve been playing playoff hockey, and with 15 or so games to go we have to continue to do that.”

The Hawks start a four-game road trip Saturday in Toronto with stops to follow at Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re all sick of St. Louis and Columbus and Nashville,” Sharp said. “It’s nice to see some new teams, but that can be a dangerous thing as well. We have to stay focused in here.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said the mindset has to stay the same as it would be playing key games against West rivals.

“You’ve got to look back at these last five games, all teams we had to beat, all in the same spot we’ve been at, and huge 4-point games,” Quenneville said. “It put us in a good spot. We’ve got some Eastern Conference foes that we don’t see much, but we have to have the same intensity and emotion going into these games.”

Good first impression: Joel Quenneville liked what he saw from defenseman Chris Campoli on Wednesday in his Hawks debit.

Campoli played almost 17 minutes paired with Brian Campbell and had 3 hits and 2 shots on goal. He also got a minute of ice time on the power play and penalty-killing units.

#147;I liked him,#148; Quenneville said. #147;I thought he was very active off the back end. He made a lot of direct plays and had patience and looks for direct plays, which you like. I think (Campoli and Campbell) could have the puck a lot, be it off the point in the offensive zone or relieving forechecking pressure in our end.

#147;There#146;s a lot of options of them joining the rush as well. I think he#146;ll get a little more comfortable as he progresses with our system and with one another, but it was a good first game.#148;

Pressure#146;s off:Michael Frolik said scoring his first goal with the Hawks on Wednesday after a nine-game drought since being acquired from Florida got the monkey off his back.

Frolik had a goal and 2 assists in what could be his breakout game.

#147;It wasn#146;t easy, but hopefully I can continue to help the team from here,#148; Frolik said.

#147;I really liked the way he was trending and it was just a matter of time that he scored,#148; Joel Quenneville said. #147;Now that he scored, I think he#146;ll be a lot more comfortable with the puck. But I like his overall game and how he thinks the game.#148;