Healthy scratch stings Blackhawks' Smith

The healthy scratch.

It's a feeling Hawks winger Ben Smith experienced for the first time - this year, anyway - last Friday against New Jersey.

And it's one he doesn't want to experience again anytime soon.

"You never know how long it can take (to get back in), and you never want to be put in that spot again," Smith said before the Hawks hosted Detroit on Wednesday. "You have to find a way to come back and try to prove yourself as an everyday player."

Looking for a spark, coach Joel Quenneville and his staff called up Ryan Hartman from Rockford, which forced Smith to the bench against the Devils. The next game - against Pittsburgh - Smith was back on the ice, registering 3 shots on goal.

Smith, who was on the second and third lines at times last season because of injuries, is mostly a fourth-line winger who also is invaluable on the Hawks' top-ranked penalty kill. In that role, Smith isn't asked to score a lot, but his numbers still are way down from last year when he broke through as that everyday player he wants to be. To wit:

• During the 2013-14 season, Smith had 26 points (14 goals) in 75 games and scored on a team-high 15.6 percent of his shots. He also added 4 goals in 19 playoff games.

• This year Smith has just 5 goals and 4 assists in 57 games and is scoring on 7.2 percent of his shots, eighth on the team among players with 50-plus attempts. Worse, he hasn't scored in 24 straight games and doesn't have an assist in 21 straight.

As for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh, Smith said of his play: "Could have been better - you could say that about every game, though. It's one of those things where you're constantly evaluating your game. You want to keep getting better."

Count on TVR?

Coach Joel Quenneville was asked again Wednesday about how defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk is coming along in his rehab from a left-patella fracture suffered in mid-November.

Although Quenneville did say TVR is "pretty far" away from returning, the coach definitely is hoping to have the rookie back for the playoffs.

"We're hopeful that that's the case," Quenneville said. "You watch him move around out here and it gives us more encouragement that it can happen. But he's going to need to play and hopefully he can recapture where he was."

Slap shots:

Corey Crawford is 12-3-4 with a .938 save percentage vs. Detroit in his career. Crawford only has better save percentages against Columbus and Montreal among teams he has faced at least five times. … Hossa, who had an assist Wednesday, has 20 points (5 goals) in 23 meetings with his former team since joining the Hawks in 2009.

He said it:

"To be honest with you, facing Chicago in the shootout … (isn't) easy, but it's easier because I've seen them so much, playing in the West for so many years. I'm still learning a lot of guys in the East. Knowing the majority of their moves helps."

- Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard after his team's 3-2 shootout victory Wednesday night