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Turns out Chicago Blackhawks were not robbed of a victory

Apparently the Blackhawks weren't robbed.

At least that's how the NHL feels about the events that transpired in the waning moments of Boston's 2-1 overtime victory Wednesday at the United Center.

For those who missed it, an on-ice official admitted to making a mistake by blowing his whistle shortly after the Bruins' Torey Krug committed a tripping penalty. What was thought to be a premature stoppage of play nullified a Drake Caggiula goal that would have given the Hawks a 2-1 lead with 1:05 remaining.

“(The ref) said it was his mistake,” Jonathan Toews said.

Boston went on to win 2-1 in overtime, leaving the Hawks feeling like a critical point got away.

End of story, right?

Wrong.

An NHL spokesperson confirmed to NBC Sports Chicago that the play was blown dead because Olli Maatta advanced the puck to Caggiula with a hand pass, which is illegal. Here is what the spokesperson said:

“Maatta redirected the puck with his glove, giving his team an advantage in a zone other than the defensive zone — which is how a hand pass is defined in the Rule Book. While it is difficult to determine whether the puck hit his stick before it went to a teammate, that is not relevant. Possession and control by the same player who made the hand pass is required to nullify the hand pass — not just a deflection off that player's stick.

“The whistle could have been blown earlier and a better announcement made, but neither change whether the call was correct.”

Now that we've got that all cleared up, here are two more takeaways from Wednesday night ...

Rough one:

Duncan Keith had perhaps his worst game of the season against Boston, with two notable plays sticking out:

• The first came late in the opening period when Keith blindly flipped the puck behind his own net. Jake DeBrusk grabbed it and fed David Krejci, who fired point blank on Robin Lehner. Fortunately for the Hawks, the shot went right into Lehner's midsection.

• In the second period, Keith tried pinning Sean Kurlay up against the boards, but the Bruins forward escaped when Keith slipped. Kurlay used a pick to skate around Jonathan Toews and a second later fired the only shot that beat Lehner in regulation.

So no doubt it was a rough outing for Keith, who also was charged with 4 giveaways.

But the Hawks are asking an awful lot out of their 36-year-old D-man, who should probably be playing 21-23 minutes a night. Instead, he played 26:40 against Boston (largely due to Adam Boqvist's injury), 25:22 against Minnesota and 27 minutes against Arizona.

Cut his ice time down and you'll likely have a more effective player.

Point taken:

Hawks fans looking to moan about what could have been a victory over Boston should remember that they were fortunate to be in the game in the first place. The same goes for their 3-2 OT loss Tuesday at Minnesota.

Those 2 points mean the Hawks (25-21-8) were only 2 points behind Calgary and 3 behind Arizona in the wild-card standings heading into Thursday's games. If coach Jeremy Colliton's squad drops them both, it's a 4-point deficit.

This wasn't the easiest stretch coming out of the break, but the Hawks did pick up 4 of a possible 6 points. They have built up enough momentum that they should feel good about themselves ahead of the biggest road trip of the season, which begins Sunday at Winnipeg.

• Twitter: @johndietzdh

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