Reeling Hawks hope they can raise their game vs. Red Wings

Truth be told, there really is never a good time to play the Detroit Red Wings.

But for a Blackhawks team frustrated with recent developments and needing to find the desperate button and quickly maybe a visit from a Detroit team you always must be prepared to play is good timing.

Even Hawks coach Joel Quenneville admitted the Red Wings coming to the United Center tonight might not be such a bad thing.

“We need to play our best and we need everybody to be playing well and contributing in their way,” Quenneville said. “It's a get-attention type of game and the timing is probably right.

“We've got you can argue one of the top teams in the league in Detroit here and I'm sure everyone is going to be excited to play that game and the building will be rocking as well.”

The Hawks are frustrated after 3 straight losses in difficult fashion that left them 10th in the Western Conference on Thursday morning.

“You've got to use that frustration and that attitude in the right way,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “To direct that anger and that frustration towards each other, that's not going to do anything. You have to channel it in the right way and work as hard as you can and play with desperation in a game like (tonight).

“It's pretty simple. It's right there. We're a good hockey team. We have to keep believing that and keep reminding ourselves every single day of what we're capable of doing and just go out there and do it.

“We're all good hockey players and we're here for a reason. It's time to really stick together and not point fingers and blame the other guy.”

These are adverse times for the defending Stanley Cup champions who are fighting for their lives just to get back to the playoffs.

Toews and his teammates aren't even letting it enter their minds that they might miss the postseason altogether.

“It's so far away,” Toews said. “You want to look at our team last year and say it was a breeze right to the playoffs, well, it wasn't.

“We know this is a different hockey team, but coming in to this year we didn't think it would be a cakewalk back to where we were last year. It's going to take a lot of work.”

Injuries and poor team defense at critical times in the third period have contributed greatly to the Hawks being 8-9 at home and where they are in the standings.

“It hasn't been an easy first half to the season and that's something we can look at as a positive and take something out of that and be a better hockey club because of it,” Toews said. “We have to enjoy this tough time because it's going to make us better and hopefully find a way out of it sooner than later.”

It can start against the Red Wings.

“Of course we're not where we want to be in the standings right now,” Toews said. “It's not your goal to be in ninth or 10th place at this point in the season, but we can start our comeback and start climbing back by going out and playing our best game against a good hockey team.”