Hossa plays but makes little impact

When asked for his thoughts on Marian Hossa's return to the lineup Sunday night, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville shrugged.

“He was OK,” Quenneville said.

Hossa was on the ice for both opposing goals in the 2-1 loss to the Oilers, and he looked rusty after missing five games with an upper-body injury.

“I felt pretty solid,” said Hossa, adding the latest injury had nothing to do with his surgically repaired shoulder. “I felt pretty good. I was skating; I was battling. A few times I felt it a little bit, but if I didn't feel better I wouldn't be playing. I was ready to play.”

Confidence crisis?

It's still early, but the Blackhawks haven't come close to consistently playing at a level expected of a defending Stanley Cup champion.

Here are two telltale signs: the Hawks are 4-6 at home and 5-5-1 in 1-goal games.

“That's our sore spot this year, failing to close teams out and winning at home,” coach Joel Quenneville said after Sunday's loss to Edmonton. “That was one of our strengths the last couple of years and we have to re-establish homeice advantage. We shouldn't be happy with where we're at.

“We should be more desperate than I've seen, especially as the game progresses and the game's on the line. We should want to be in that surrounding, getting the job done and doing the right things.”

Said Fernando Pisani: “We need to be a little more confident being in those situations at the goal and making sure we win the battle, we win the pucks getting in deep. Just the simple things.”

Morin returns:

Jeremy Morin was a big scorer last season, ranking fourth in the Ontario Hockey League with 47 goals while still property of the Atlanta Thrashers.

And the 19-year-old winger's ability to shoot the puck almost landed him a spot on the Blackhawks' roster at the end of training camp.

Morin, the key acquisition in the June 24 trade that sent Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Ben Eager to Atlanta, showed there's more to his game than scoring when he blocked a big shot by the Thrashers' Johnny Oduya in Saturday night's shootout win.

Morin tried to return in the Atlanta game but wasn't able to continue due to a sore right leg.

But Morin was back on the ice against Edmonton on Sunday night at the United Center and he played just over nine minutes.

Coach Joel Quenneville appreciates the rookie's toughness.

“He's a competitive kid,” Quenneville said. “Early in camp, on the offensive side of things he showed some good skills. Now he's showing he can play both sides of the puck, and at that time of the game it was a big block. It showed that he'd do anything to keep the puck out of the net.”