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The Blackhawks hosted the league-leading Washington Capitals on Sunday just 20 hours after a devastating  loss in Philadelphia. How the team responded to the loss on the ice in such a short turnaround could have been a strong indication of how the final three weeks of the season could turn out.

Then the Hawks threw everyone a curveball: both Kim Johnsson and Marian Hossa were scratches on Sunday with upper body injuries. Johnsson didn’t play in the last 13 minutes on Saturday, but Hossa was on the ice in the final four seconds when the game was lost. Their status moving forward has been labeled day-to-day, but both will make the trip with the team this week.

Then Alexander Ovechkin threw Brian Campbell into the boards, a “tough hit… a dangerous hit” as coach Joel Quenneville. Ovechkin received a five minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for the play, which drew the fire out of Mike Milbury on NBC between periods. Milbury, of course, needs to publicly defend Ovechkin after calling the Russians “Euro trash” during the Olympics. How he’s still on the air is beyond me. Ovechkin was taken out of the equation, but that doesn’t mean the Capitals had no offense left on the ice.

However, losing Campbell was a worst-case scenario for the Hawks. With Johnsson already out after suffering an injury in the third period of Saturday’s game and Brent Sopel still working his way back from injury, the Hawks defense was already thin. Forcing Jordan Hendry and Sopel to play more minutes (Hendry played over 16, Sopel over 18 on Sunday), coupled with Brent Seabrook’s two-month funk, against the highest-scoring team in the league was a recipe for disaster.

Disaster came in the third period.

Hendry took a double-minor for high-sticking Alexander Semin, and near the mid-point of that penalty Colin Fraser drew a penalty for high-sticking Brooks Laich. With the Fraser penalty delayed, Laich scored the first tally for Washington on the afternoon. Because there were 22 second left on the first minor penalty to Hendry, the Blackhawks were then forced to kill a full two minutes of five-on-three against the Capitals in the mid-third.

The Hawks did indeed kill the penalty, but consider how they accomplished that feat. With Hendry in the box and Campbell out, the Hawks had four defensemen to skate for two minutes against an active, powerful offense. They killed the five-on-three, but allowed the second goal of the game to Nicklas Backstrom just three seconds after the penalties were over.

Momentum was gone, and confidence was questionable. The lead was only one.

That lead lasted only 13 seconds.

With dead legs and frustrated brains, the Blackhawks had watched a big lead disappear in the third period again, this time in front of the home crowd. The Hawks have not only lost three of their last four games, but they’ve been shell-shocked by a five-goal period from Detroit, Philadelphia’s winner in the final two seconds and now Washington’s comeback.

Stat of the game: the Chicago Blackhawks were credited with ONE shot on goal in the third period. One.

What’s worse, the Hawks’ dressing room has been described as silent, dead and questioning after Sunday’s loss.

Duncan Keith said, “I don’t know how we will regroup.”

Overall, Sunday’s loss cannot, and should not, be blamed on Antti Niemi. He stopped 26 of 29 shots during regulation, making a number of critical saves. Just as Cristobal Huet was on Saturday, Niemi was the victim of the players in front of him taking a few minutes off. The five-on-three with only four available defensemen was too much for the Hawks to handle, and the subsequent two goals in 15 seconds killed the lead. Of the 60 minutes in regulation on Sunday, the Hawks played their hearts out for almost all of them.

Bad penalties with worse timing, coupled with an unexpectedly limited bench against the top scoring team in the league cost the Blackhawks. The moral victory on from Sunday’s loss is the one point from drawing overtime, but moral victories don’t mean much at this time of year.

When there is more information on the extent of Campbell’s injury, and the status of both Hossa and Johnsson moving forward, we’ll update their situations.

On offense for the Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews scored two goals and Patrick Kane had two assists.

The Blackhawks next three games are on the road, with the first coming on Wednesday in Anaheim.

Circle March 13 on your calendar. If the Blackhawks lose a game six or seven in San Jose that keeps them from playing for the Stanley Cup, Saturday’s loss to the Flyers will likely be the cause for that elimination game being played somewhere other than the United Center.

Cristobal Huet played an exceptional game for 57 minutes on Saturday, keeping almost everything the Flyers could throw at him out of the net and matching an incredible effort from his counterpart, former Hawks prospect Michael Leighton. Despite a number of bad turnovers by the skaters in front of him, Huet kept the Hawks in the game for most of the afternoon.

But with 2:04 left, Scott Hartnell beat Brent Sopel to the net and put a shot past Huet to tie the game. Huet was frustrated, and wasn’t getting any help.

Perhaps the worst few moments of the Hawks season came as the clock was expiring on regulation. With five seconds left in the game, for no good reason at all, the Blackhawks went for a line change. A line change… with five seconds left in a tie game… on the road.

Brent Seabrook, who’s terrible turnover led to Philadelphia’s first goal, was left hanging as the Flyers rushed up ice and a strong cross-ice pass to Chris Pronger sealed the deal for the Flyers. Despite being outshot 41-34, the Flyers stole two points from the Blackhawks with 2.1 seconds on the clock.

This loss will test the mettle of the youngest team in the league, as they now have to fly home and host the best team in hockey, the Washington Capitals, 20 hours after suffering a heart-breaking defeat. Huet will take a lot of the blame for the loss on Saturday, but he should share the burden with the defensemen in front of him. Sopel and Seabrook both played far from their best hockey on Saturday, and subsequently had a good look at each of the Flyers’ three goals.

On the positive side of the ledger, Kris Versteeg scored his second momentum-killing goal of the week quickly after the Hawks’ opponent had taken a lead. On Saturday, it came on the power play just seconds after a quick whistle had wiped away what should have been a game-tying goal for Jonathan Toews. Versteeg scored on a rebound to tie the game at one less than two minutes after Philadelphia took the lead.

Almost ten minutes after Versteeg’s goal, Marian Hossa gave the Hawks the lead with a wicked shot from just above the circle. That would be the end of the Hawks’ scoring on the afternoon, though, as Leighton stood on his head against an attacking offense. Not only did the Hawks get 41 shots to Leighton, but the Flyers were credited with 26 blocked shots. On the other end, the Blackhawks were also aggressive defensively, blocking 17 shots aimed at Huet.

This hard loss adds more intrigue to Sunday’s nationally televised game against the Caps. How will the Blackhawks bounce back from this devastating defeat? The answer could determine their postseason fate.

How much did we miss Adam Burish?

An assist AND a fight on his first shift.

Well that didn’t take long.

Fans barely knew he had stepped on the ice before his presence was felt in the box score. Adam Burish, playing in his first regular season game after tearing an ACL in the preseason, came flying off the bench for his first shift in over five months. He skated straight to the back of the net, got his stick on the puck, and pushed a gorgeous wrap-around pass to Patrick Sharp in front of the net for the first goal of the game.

Only 2:34 had come off the clock when the goal was scored, and Burish hadn’t yet been on the ice for ten seconds this season.

At 2:54, Burish brought the other part of his game that fans had missed. Just 20 seconds after notching his first assist of the season, Burish drew his first penalty of the season. And, of course, it was a five minute major for fighting Richard Clune.

When the term “energy player” or “impact player” is used, fans need look no further than Burish for a definition. After throwing, and receiving, a few punches, Burish skated away from Clune with a smile on his face, pumping his fists with obvious excitement. This was the player Hawks fans had fallen in love with over the past couple years, and his emotion on the ice set the tone early.

The Hawks skated through a physical first period that ended with a 1-0 lead favoring Chicago. However, as has become all too familiar for Hawks fans recently, the second period was a different story.

Just under five minutes into the second, Dustin Brown beat Antti Niemi to tie the game. Only 61 seconds after the Brown goal, Jonathan Toews was called for a goalie interference penalty that can be best described as garbage. Toews was not only pushed into Kings’ netminder Jonathan Quick, but Quick extended his right leg to ease himself into Toews. Everyone on the ice, and in the stands at the United Center, thought the penalty was going to be on Los Angeles. It was not. And, as has been the trend for the Hawks in recent second periods, their opponent made them pay. Anze Kopitar scored at the mid point of the power play to give LA the 2-1 lead.

This would become a crucial point in the game, and perhaps the Blackhawks’ season. The recent stretch of poor second periods, punctuated by Sunday’s debacle against Detroit, has seen the flood gates open wide when the Hawks started struggling. When the Hawks lost the momentum, it snowballed in favor of the opponents until the game was either out of reach or the period ended.

Wednesday night saw a different result from the Hawks.

A strong shift from John Madden, Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd paid off with Versteeg finding the back of the net to tie the game only 95 seconds after the Kings took the lead. After Versteeg tied the game, the Hawks’ defense settled down and the flow of the action was significantly more controlled through the end of the second. Despite an early flurry and Niemi allowing two tough goals, he rebounded well.

The third period saw 17 minutes of solid checking and back-and-forth action from both teams. Both Niemi and Quick fought off tough shots in traffic to keep their respective teams in the game. After a hard hit into the boards, Dustin Brown decided he wanted to dance with Troy Brouwer. Just as Burish had done early in the first period, Brouwer landed a couple solid blows to win the fight. The hope was that the Hawks’ offense would respond.

Wayne Simmonds helped the Hawks out by taking his second dumb penalty of the game with only 1:23 remaining on a potential breakaway, but the first 83 seconds of the power play expired with the regulation game clock with the score still tied at 2-2. In regulation, Niemi stopped 27 of 29 shots while Quick had a busier night, keeping 38 of 40 regulation shots out of the net. Considering the Kings only allowed 11 shots on net in their previous game, the offensive play from the Hawks was solid; the effort from Quick was exceptional.

In the overtime, on a terrible Los Angeles turnover, Sharp got a one-on-one chance with Quick in open ice and was victorious. His second goal of the game clinched a 3-2 win for the Hawks in a game that should carry a lot of significance for the Hawks.

First, the Hawks had their regular lapse in effort in the second period, but didn’t let the game get away from them.

Secondly, they FINALLY had a netminder battle with another quality goaltender in a playoff matchup and play well. Quick was great for Los Angeles, but Niemi’s effort must be noted. He was strong for all 60 minutes against a very good Kings team, and Hawks fans should hope this propels him into a stretch of solid play that extends into the postseason.

Third, the Hawks saw contributions from all over the ice. Patrick Kane had the second assist on Sharp’s first period goal, extending his point streak to nine game. But Troy Brouwer was credited with six hits, Duncan Keith blocked three shots, Brent Sopel returned to the lineup and skated effectively and the Versteeg-Madden-Ladd line again made an impact.  Niklas Hjalmarsson was also a physical force on the ice.

The Hawks are now off until a Saturday matinee in Philadelphia against the Flyers. That game, which will be broadcast on WGN in Chicago, begins at noon Central.

Um, Cristo... that little black thing that's behind you? Yeah, about that...

Andrew Ladd had the first hat trick of the season for the Blackhawks, scoring three of the Hawks’ four goals. Unfortunately, four goals wasn’t enough on Sunday, as the Hawks lost to Detroit 5-4.

Cristobal Huet ripped the heart of the team out by folding liks a sheet of notebook paper in the second period, allowing four goals on just eight shots in the period.

Despite all of the positive thinking and forced attempts to paint the Blackhawks goaltending situation as survivable, until one of the two settles down and grabs the job for himself, the Blackhawks achilles’ heel could keep them from achieving their One Goal this year. After Sunday’s debacle, coach Joel Quenneville indicated that he won’t comment on the starting goaltender situation until after practice, which means the Hawks still have a question mark on their most important position.

Will one of these guys step up? Please?

It only took 37 seconds for the gloves to drop, and the penalties kept coming all night but the Blackhawks handled their business with a stunning 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.

The Blackhawks ran a clearly frustrated Roberto Luongo after only one period by scoring five goals in the first 20 minutes and Vancouver was never able to get into the game. With their win, the Hawks stay tied for the Western Conference lead with the San Jose Sharks and move within three points of the Washington Capitals for the top spot in the NHL.

Despite being shut down for a full two-minute, two-man advantage after two fights broke out less than a minute into the game, it didn’t take long for the Hawks to get on the board. Andrew Ladd, who was involved in the first altercation of the evening with crybaby Ryan Kesler, scored his 12th goal of the year just 3:48 into the game to give the Blackhawks the lead. Seven minutes, six penalties and two fights later, Duncan Keith scored his 12th goal of the season on a power play to extend the lead. The flood gates were now open, and Luongo’s leash was shrinking.

Troy Brouwer scored his 19th goal of the year only 31 seconds after Keith’s, and the route was on. Kesler made a pretty play, shooting the puck between Keith and Cristobal Huet’s legs to get Vancouver on the board, but Kris Versteeg got off the schnide with his first goal (and only his third point) in his last 16 games. When Jordan Hendry added his first of the season with only 43 seconds left in the period, Luongo looked like he needed a shower. The Blackhawks five goals came on only 14 shots.

Andrew Raycroft replaced Luongo after the first period and would allow two goals on only ten shots in the final two periods. Alex Burrows tried to help Raycroft out by scoring the first goal of the second period and drawing the Canucks to within 5-2, but Marian Hossa made sure the hopes of the visitors were short-lived when he put in his 19th at 16:55.

Tanner Glass had an impressive night for Vancouver, being whistled for five penalties, all for separate offenses. His nine penalty minutes led the way in the game, as Ben Eager and Vancouver’s Andrew Alberts would also serve seven minutes in the box. In total, 18 penalties were called on Friday night. The Blackhawks took advantage of a man-advantage situation on Keith’s goal in the first, but ended the night just 1-7 on the power play; Vancouver was 0-4 on the night.

Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews all continued their hot scoring streak after the Olympics on Friday night. Kane had one assist, Toews two assists and Hossa one assist and one goal to lead a balanced offense for the Blackhawks. Jordan Hendry, the game’s Number One Star, had one goal and one assist. Also being credited with assists on Friday night were Dustin Byfuglien, Brian Campbell, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Kim Johnsson and Patrick Sharp.

Huet’s raw numbers weren’t spectacular (three goals allowed on only 23 shots) but he made a number of spectacular saves early on and, for the most part, controlled the puck in traffic when needed. Once the lead was established in the first period, the action spread out and Huet only faced 12 shots in the final two frames.

The Blackhawks honored their six Olympians before the game.

After a disappointing return from the Olympic break in New York on Tuesday, the Blackhawks certainly didn’t want to leave points on the table against the dreadful Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. They didn’t.

The Oilers were playing with a handful of AHL players after the organization made a few deals at the trade deadline earlier in the day, and the Blackhawks took advantage. It wasn’t an easy start, and there were a few moments of doubt, but the Hawks handled their business and got a big win for Cristobal Huet. San Jose did not play on Wednesday, so the Blackhawks and Sharks are now tied atop the Western Conference with 89 points through 63 games.

Because the Blackhawks did not make a move to improve between the pipes at the deadline, it’s going to be Huet or Antti Niemi the rest of the way. Niemi struggled and was pulled on Tuesday, but Huet didn’t do much better. The second period didn’t treat Huet very well, either, as he allowed two fairly weak goals. The first should have been blown dead by the officials, but was allowed to count after Huet failed to control a puck under his legs, and the second was a shot from between the circles that should have been handled as well.

But the Blackhawks are considered an elite defensive group for a reason, and they showed it in the third period. Huet would only face three shots in the third, and the defensive moved the puck up the ice well to create chances for the scorers. In that third period, Niklas Hjalmarsson was rewarded for supporting the rush with just his second goal of the season, what proved to be the game-winner only 20 seconds into the period, and opened the flood gates. From there, the game was over.

Dustin Byfuglien played one of his best all-around games of the season, and scored his 16th goal of the season on a power play near the mid-point of the third to extend the Hawks’ lead to 4-2. Jonathan Toews, on his bobblehead night, put the nail in the coffin with his 20th goal of the season with under four minutes left as the Hawks finished with a solid 5-2 victory. In the game, the Blackhawks outshot the Oilers 47-14.

In total on his bobblehead night, Toews had a goal, an assist, won 16 of 23 faceoffs, blocked a shot and was credited with three hits. Not bad.

Patrick Kane had two assists to give him five points in the two games since the Olympics. Also scoring multiple points on Wednesday were Duncan Keith (two assists), Toews (goal, assist), Marian Hossa (goal, assist) and Dave Bolland (goal, assist). Bolland and Hossa’s goals in the second period featured wonderful passing between the two, as Bolland appears ready to assume his spot as the second-line center now that he’s fully healthy.

On Tuesday night in their first game together in two weeks, the Chicago Blackhawks looked like a team that was still on vacation.

Despite outshooting the New York Islanders 22-9 in the first period, the Hawks failed to pull away from a struggling team that was playing without one of their key defenseman, Andy Sutton, who was traded to Ottawa a couple hours before the game. While some credit was earned by the Islanders, the loss was cleary earned by the two goalies from Chicago.

Amid swirling trade rumors, coach Joel Quenneville started Antti Niemi for a fifth straight game. After the team’s practices at the end of the break, Quenneville stated that Niemi had his chance to win the starting job in net and had taken control of the situation with his play; various media outlets in Chicago, however, reported that Huet’s role in a potential trade was keeping him on the bench.

Niemi’s play on Tuesday couldn’t keep Huet on the bench for three more periods.

Niemi played just over 22 minutes, allowing three goals on just 12 shots. After the third goal was allowed, Quenneville pulled the plug and replaced him with Huet. In perhaps his best shot at staying with the Hawks, much less regaining his status as the team’s top goalie, Huet allowed two awful, soft goals despite only facing 11 shots. In all, the Blackhawks tandem of goalies allowed five goals on 23 shots, which adds up to a save percentage of not good.

The offense that looked crisp in the first period was miserable in the final two frames. Marian Hossa appears to have left his legs and hand-eye coordination in Vancouver on a number of occasions. Patrick Kane was credited with an assist on Brian Campbell’s goal in the first, and scored the second goal for the Hawks, but that was pretty much when the offense disappeared.

It wasn’t until Dustin Byfuglien scored with less than five minutes left in regulation, and the Hawks trailing 5-2, that the Hawks would score again. Kane was credited with another assist on the third goal, giving him a three-point night. Jonathan Toews also had two assists for the Blackhawks on the night.

By virtue of defeating Canada on Sunday night, the United States not only won their group but also clinched the top overall seed in the Olympic playoffs. The US was allegedly undersized and didn’t have as much fire power as Russia or Canada, but the US tied Canada for the most goals scored in the round-robin portion of the tournament (14). The US also had the best goal differential as a team in the three games to date (+9) in the entire field.

In the first round of the Olympic playoffs, the Blackhawks will be represented in two games on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Canada will face Germany at 6:30 pm. The caffeine game will once again feature Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky and Slovakia as they play Norway. The puck is scheduled to drop at 10:55 pm in Chicago for the latest game on the ice Tuesday.

Both Canada vs. Germany (6:30) and Slovakia vs. Norway (10:55) will air on CNBC.

Patrick Kane and the United States will face the winner of Switzerland vs. Belarus on Wed. Feb. 24. In the preliminary rounds of the tournament, the US defeated Jonas Hiller and Switzerland 3-1.

If Canada gets past Germany, they will play Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Russia. If Hossa, Kopecky and Slovakia get past Norway, they will face Sweden.

Based on how the seeding has lined up the brackets, the United States will not face Canada or Russia until the gold medal game. They would, however, need to beat the Czech Republic to advance to the gold medal game.

Wow.

It wasn’t 1980’s “Miracle on Ice,” but Sunday night’s game between Canada and the United States felt like rivals from opposite sides of the tracks meeting for a grudge match with everything on the line. The game didn’t determine a medal, but the only two rosters in the Olympics filled exclusively with NHL players put on a show that was on par with the best Stanley Cup matches in recent history.

Ryan Miller was absolutely incredible between the pipes for the United States. He stopped 42 of 45 shots, most of which were in traffic. The Canadians had more, and better, opportunities than the US, but Miller was the difference. If there was ever a supreme example to define the term “standing on his head,” it was Miller on Sunday. Time after time, Canada threw the puck at the net and Miller conquered the challenge.

When Canada did score, the Blackhawks fingerprints were all over the goals. In the first period, with Canada trailing 1-0, Eric Staal finished an impressive passing display from Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook to tie the game. In the second period, with Canada again trailing, Toews spun in traffic and threw the puck at Miller. The redirect found Dany Heatley, all alone, for an easy score. The score was tied at two, and Toews had assists on both goals.

Even Seabrook, who’s minutes have been limited by Canada (and Detroit) head coach Mike Babcock, was a force in the first two periods. Seabrook ended the night +1 with his early assist. In the closing moments of the thrilling win for the United States, Duncan Keith made a crisp pass to Rick Nash, who sent the puck towards the net. Sidney Crosby redirected the puck into the net, giving all three Canadian Blackhawks an assist in the game.

Throughout an intense game played at an epic level, the Blackhawks representatives performed as well, if not better, than many of the other superstars in the game. Patrick Kane dazzled with his puck handling through traffic in the second and third period as the United States played with a lead, and his handling through traffic in the third period had national analysts raving on Twitter. He wasn’t credited with an assist in the game, but Kane stood out for the United States.

Yes, Canada lost the game, but their effort was superb. Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash, the stars that anchor the top line for Canada, ended the night -3, and Nash pointed out between the second and third periods that mental lapses were what killed the Canadians. Martin Brodeur wasn’t his usually dominant self, allowing four goals on just 22 shots.

Where the Olympic tournament goes from here is a book waiting to be written, but this game was played above any playoff intensity any of the Blackhawks have ever felt and the youngsters all performed incredibly well. The United States, who defeated Canada for the first time since 1960, earned a bye through the first round of the Olympic playoffs with their victory.

Speaking of 1960, the US team was wearing throwback jersey modelled after the ones worn the last time they defeated their neighbors to the north.