14 games without goal, Versteeg 'fighting through it'

Scoring the deciding goal in Tuesday's shootout win over Dallas didn't count in Kris Versteeg's personal statistics, but the Blackhawks are hoping it will be the spark the winger needs to regain his scoring touch.

Versteeg has gone 14 games without a goal and with only 2 assists.

"Everybody goes through stretches where you're not scoring and not productive, and he's got to keep fighting through it," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought he did better in the last two games and got rewarded (Wednesday)."

Versteeg and linemates John Madden and Dustin Byfuglien had a tough time scoring on the recent eight-game road trip, and it has continued. Quenneville's line tinkering in the last week has moved Versteeg around, but he was back with Madden and Byfuglien to start Tuesday's game.

Madden left, however, with a lower-body injury and isn't expected to play again until after the Olympic break.

"You're kind of adapting to different roles and trying to do different things," Versteeg said. "You don't want to make excuses, but at times it is hard to adjust. You've just got to go out there and do your best with whatever you're given and try to help the team win."

Madden's injury likely will force Quenneville to do some more line juggling, perhaps moving Patrick Sharp back at center for games this weekend against Atlanta and Columbus.

Sharp has worked well with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the last two games, but Troy Brouwer also was a good fit with Toews and Kane for a long stretch of games.

"That whole line has been good for a long time, even though Sharp has only been on it for two games," Quenneville said. "It's been very productive, and they all complement each other."

With Madden and left wing Ben Eager (lower body) expected to miss the weekend, the Hawks might need to recall a player from Rockford before Saturday's game against the Thrashers. Either that or use defenseman Jordan Hendry at wing as they did earlier in the season.

These are the last two games before the 15-day Olympic break, and the Hawks would like to keep the momentum they have gained from back-to-back wins over St. Louis and Dallas.

"I thought two games in a row we generated some offense," Quenneville said.

Trade talk: Because of salary-cap issues, it's a good bet the Hawks won't make a trade before the Olympic-break roster freeze goes into effect Friday night.

There continues to be plenty of rumors circulating about what the Hawks might do before the official March 3 trade deadline, much of it centering on adding a defenseman and possibly a goaltender as insurance.

Marty Turco's name was linked to the Hawks in several places Wednesday, the day after Dallas acquired goalie Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta.

Turco is an unrestricted free agent after the season, but, because he is earning $5.4 million this season, any team interested in dealing for him likely would want to wait and save paying him during the Olympic break.

Big numbers: Antti Niemi is 3-1 in shootouts after stopping all five attempts by Dallas in Tuesday's win. Niemi has faced 23 shots in shootouts and made 19 saves.

"I kind of like shootouts because you don't have too much to lose on those," Niemi said. "You still get a point."