The Blackhawks’ drive to the playoffs has slowed to a long, hard march.
To the disappointment of 15,644 fans in the United Center who saw them return from a four-game West Coast trip Monday night, the Hawks were unable to hold a lead and had to settle for a 2-2 overtime deadlock with the Dallas Stars.
The bad news: The tie stretched their winless streak to five games (0-2-3).
The good news: The tie extended their undefeated streak to three games (0-0-3).
“I’m not happy losing a point,” admitted coach Brian Sutter. “Not one bit. But we’ve got to take the point and move on.
“Every point is important. We see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have to chip away and grind away.”
Dallas tied the game with 5 minutes 43 seconds to play when Derian Hatcher’s shot from the perimeter went between the legs of goalie Jocelyn Thibault, who was screened by teammate Steve Poapst and Dallas center Jim Montgomery.
“It’s funny how those goals go in,” said Dallas center Joe Nieuwendyk. “Just a simple wrist shot from the point. That’s what happens when there’s traffic in front of the net.”
Steve Sullivan, whose goals produced the ties in the two previous games, came close to delivering the winning goal late in overtime when he went on a two-man rush with Tom Fitzgerald, putting Dallas goalie Ed Belfour in a compromising position.
“[Fitzgerald] made a great play,” said Sullivan. “Going down the ice he made Belfour stay on his post and threw a nice pass over. I got great wood on it–it was two inches too much to the left.
“We’re working hard to get the point. We know what it takes to win; we’ve been doing it all season. We’ve got to find ways to get the other point.”
Jaroslav Spacek put the Hawks on top 2-1 midway through the second period by sending a shot from the slot past Belfour. With Tony Amonte controlling the puck along the boards on his right, Spacek sped in from his defense position to catch Hatcher and fellow defenseman Sergei Zubov off guard, snared Amonte’s pass and scored his third goal of the season.
A pass by Amonte also set up the game’s first goal on a shot from the slot by Alex Zhamnov with 3:20 elapsed.
With Spacek serving time for tripping, the Stars tied the score at 13:12 of the first period. The goal was scored by Nieuwendyk, in the right place at the right time when Darryl Sydor took a shot from the left circle. The puck was deflected on the way in, Poapst tripped Thibault in the struggle to arrest the puck, leaving Nieuwendyk all alone at the right post.
The puck landed on Nieuwendyk’s stick and he flicked it into the unprotected net.
Shortly after the Hawks regained the lead on Spacek’s second-period goal, rookie left wing Mark Bell had to be assisted off the ice after a collision along the boards. Bell sustained a bruised left hip and didn’t return. Although it isn’t a serious injury, he probably will miss Wednesday’s game with New Jersey and possibly the third and fourth games of the four-game homestand.
At the end of the second period Belfour was the center of attention, but it wasn’t because of his play in goal.
When the horn sounded, he skated toward the Hawks’ bench and hit Sullivan from behind. Sullivan retaliated with a punch. It appeared the exchange of blows might instigate a brawl, but order was restored, the teams went to their dressing rooms and neither player was penalized.
