The ice is getting thinner for the Blackhawks.
When they left on their four-game West Coast trip they were a solid fourth in the Western Conference, a position that would assure them home ice in the playoffs.
Then came the thaw.
When the expedition ended Saturday night with a 2-2 overtime tie with the San Jose Sharks, they had Phoenix and Los Angeles closing in on them and St. Louis and Dallas still in threatening position.
It could have been worse. A goal by Steve Sullivan with 38 seconds remaining in the third period sent the Hawks home 0-2-2 on the trip. It marked the second night in a row Sullivan bailed out the Hawks. Friday in Anaheim, he struck midway through the third period.
With 82 points, the Hawks are seven points ahead of eighth-place Dallas and just three ahead of fifth-place L.A. as they head home to open a four-game homestand against Dallas.
San Jose, meanwhile, strengthened its hold on first place in the Pacific Division, leading the Kings by four points. Owen Nolan’s deflection of Gary Suter’s shot from beyond the perimeter in the third period had given them a 2-1 lead at the 5:46 mark.
Only 23 seconds earlier the Hawks had tied the score 1-1. Michael Nylander set the scoring sequence in motion by winning a faceoff in the Sharks’ end. The puck wound up on Eric Daze’s stick. Daze took a shot from the slot and scored his 32nd goal.
Both coaches used their backup goaltenders. The Hawks’ Brian Sutter gave Jocelyn Thibault the night off and used Steve Passmore, who’d sat out the preceding four games, while his brother, the Sharks’ Darryl Sutter, called on Mikka Kiprusoff to take the place of Evgeni Nabokov for the first time in four games.
The Hawks tested Kiprusoff time and again in the opening period, but he rejected all 14 shots.
Passmore, meanwhile, faced half as many shots but was stung for a goal. It came at 6:59 when Matt Bradley planted his stick on the ice in the right circle, tipped Bryan Marchment shot from the point and sent it skipping past Passmore.
In their earlier stops on the journey, the Hawks lost 2-1 Monday in Los Angeles and 3-1 Tuesday in Phoenix and skated to a 1-1 overtime tie Friday in Anaheim.
In Anaheim, the Hawks outshot the Mighty Ducks 40-33 but had to come from behind to escape with the tie.
The Hawks hope to continue their seasonlong dominance in the United Center, where they boast a record of 23-5-4-1. Of their 13 remaining games, eight are on home ice.
Farmhands in town: Want to check out how Steve McCarthy is progressing? The defenseman, who was the Hawks’ first round choice and the 23rd overall selection in the 1999 draft, will be in All State Arena on Sunday when the Hawks’ Norfolk farm team visits the Wolves.
Center Peter White also will be playing for Norfolk after clearing waivers Saturday. White was leading Norfolk in scoring with three goals and 10 assists in 14 games when the Hawks recalled him on Nov. 11. In his 48 games for the Hawks he had three goals and three assists.
