Tucked safely back in the comfort of their own time zone, the Blackhawks set out Wednesday night to get their idling offense back to its level before the circus trip.
The Hawks scored just four goals in the final three games, all defeats, of their six-game road swing. Before that, the offense had been clicking on most cylinders.
“I don’t think we’ve been working very hard to score goals,” winger Patrick Sharp said before the game. “You have to get to the traffic areas and get a lot of pucks to the net.”
Scoring chances were at a premium as the Hawks hosted the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center, but the home team found the back of the net enough times to record a 4-2 victory and snap a three-game winless skid.
The victory before a crowd of 21,574 improved their record to 11-6-6, including 7-1-4 at home. The sellout was the 12th of the season for the Hawks, matching last season’s total.
The winning goal came with just 1 minute 35 seconds left when captain Jonathan Toews poked in the puck from the slot for his fifth goal of the season.
Sharp scored his team-leading 14th goal with 1 minute 33 seconds remaining in the first period to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
While on the power play, Toews won a battle for the puck along the boards against two Ducks. Patrick Kane sent a pass to an open Sharp between the circles that the forward fired past Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller for the score.
It was Hiller who made 26 saves Friday night in Anaheim to shut out the Hawks 1-0, but they were determined not to let that happen. They outshot the Ducks 17-9 in the opening period.
The Ducks capitalized on a power play of their own to tie it midway through the second. With Toews in the box for interference, Scott Niedermayer sent a pass from behind the Hawks’ net to Teemu Selanne, and the veteran knocked past goalie Cristobal Huet from in close.
It didn’t take long into the third period for the Ducks to take a 2-1 lead. Defenseman Chris Pronger’s shot from inside the blue line eluded a screened Huet just 48 seconds in. Rob Niedermayer was providing traffic in front of the goal.
But the Hawks came back on Martin Havlat’s seventh goal of the season later in the period, tying it 2-2 with 5:45 remaining. With the teams skating four-on-four with each having a man in the penalty box, Duncan Keith found Havlat open between the circles and the winger fired it past Hiller on the stick side.
Dave Bolland added an empty-netter for the final margin.
Huet made 30 saves.
One-timers: The Hawks honored former forward Steve Larmer as part of their “Heritage Nights” before the game. Larmer had 406 goals and 517 assists in 11 seasons with the Hawks. He appeared in 884 consecutive games from 1982-93, the third-longest streak in NHL history. … A moment of silence was observed to honor former Hawk Hubert “Pit” Martin, who died over the weekend in a snowmobile accident in Quebec. … Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin skated for the second consecutive day as he recovers from an injury suffered Nov. 26 against the Sharks in San Jose. Coach Joel Quenneville said Khabibulin is “questionable” to return to action this weekend against either the Red Wings in Detroit Saturday or at home Sunday night when the Hawks take on Phoenix. … The second annual Blackhawks Convention will be at the Hilton Chicago on July 17-19. Reservations can be made beginning Dec. 11 by calling 800-445-8667.
———-
ckuc@tribune.com
Convention dates released
Circle the dates: July 17-19, 2009. For more, go to Chris Kuc’s blog at chicagotribune.com/icing
