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.

Over the next three weeks, the Blackhawks will learn a lot about how they stack up against the rest of hockey’s elite teams.

Between now and March 25, the Hawks will play nine games against playoff teams, most of whom made significant moves at the trade deadline to improve their club. When the Hawks play a home-and-home against Columbus, they should have a good idea of what they’ll need to do to win the Stanley Cup.

Starting Friday, when the Vancouver Canucks come to the United Center (after hammering the Red Wings 6-3 on Wednesday), the Hawks will face one of the toughest stretches of games on their calendar. Four of the first five games are at home, against Vancouver, Detroit (now at 11:30 AM in Chicago, thanks NBC), Los Angeles, then at Philadelphia before hosting Washington on the 14th. In that stretch, the Hawks will do battle with teams currently in third, fourth and eighth in the Western Conference and first and sixth in the East.

If the last two games against the Islanders and Oilers seemed rough at times, wait until this stretch. The little mistakes in the corners will turn into goals, and the probability that the Hawks can hold one of these teams to three shots in a third period like they did on Wednesday is zero.

March 14: Ovechkin in Chicago

While the Hawks have faced the Canucks, Red Wings and Kings already this year, the game against the Washington Capitals on the 14th will be the only time during the regular season that they will face the team with the best record in the NHL.

Despite their potent offense and 92 points, the Caps were very busy at the deadline. Washington added defensemen Joe Corvo and Milan Jurcina, and forwards Eric Belanger and Scott Walker in four deals that give them more depth all over their roster. This game will be a nationally-televised gauge for how the Blackhawks match up against the Eastern Conference’s best.

After the first five games, the Hawks hit the road for an intriguing three game trip filled with familiar faces in new places.

The trip starts in Anaheim, where the Ducks added defensemen Aaron Ward and Lubomir Visnovsky at the expense of Ryan Whitney. The Ducks are presently sitting in 11th in the West, but are just three points behind Detroit for the final playoff spot. Adding the trade of Jean-Sebastian Giguere to Toronto for Jason Blake and Tesa Voskala (who was subsequently traded to Calgary for Curtis McElhinney), the Ducks made a number of impact moves to make a run for the postseason.

The Hawks play the following night at the Kings, who made a few strong moves of their own. Gone is Teddy Purcell, but the Kings added Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. LA is the hottest team in hockey right now, running off an 8-1-1 record in their last ten games.

After a Friday night off, the Hawks spend the night of Sat. March 20 visiting the busiest team at the trade deadline, the Phoenix Coyotes. Peter Mueller is gone, but the Coyotes added Derek Morris, Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak to a team that’s been playing very well of late. The Coyotes are just one point behind LA for the fourth seed in the West, and the added scoring of Wolski and Stempniak should only improve their 25th-ranked offense.

The Hawks will then come home and play the Coyotes again on Tues. March 23, concluding the nine-game gauntlet. 

Following the home-and-home against Columbus, the Hawks will play each of their final eight games of the regular season against teams that are either currently in the playoffs or within four points of the eighth spot. Perhaps the best playoff barometer will come on Friday, April 2 when the Blackhawks play in New Jersey against the Atlantic Division-leading Devils.  

In all, the Hawks’ final 19 games will prove to be a hard testing ground against teams battling for playoff position. Any questions the Hawks have in net will either be answered or magnified, and any scoring droughts will cost them games. When the regular season ends, Hawks fans should have a very good idea of how far this team can go in the playoffs.

Will the Hawks play for this?

Most Chicago fans felt that the Blackhawks would make at least one major move, if not more, before Wednesday’s trade deadline. After all, there are a few areas (goaltending, goaltending and… goaltending) that most fans and analysts thought could use improving if the Hawks are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

But then the deadline came and passed… and the Blackhawks did nothing.

The knee jerk reaction to the lack of action from the United Center is a lot of four-letter words and sweaty palms. How are the Blackhawks supposed to win the Stanley Cup with the guys they have? What are we going to do? Help!

Pause.

Deep breath.

OK. Let’s take a step back and look at the Blackhawks from a sane, big-picture perspective. It’s going to be alright.

First of all, let’s be realistic about playoff position. The Blackhawks are going to win the Central Division; they have a 14-point lead on second-place Nashville. Despite a few moves by the Predators, it’s unrealistic to think that the Preds will catch the Hawks with 20 games left in the season. By winning the division, the Hawks are assured of one of the top three seeds in the Western Conference in the playoffs.

Secondly, at the top of the Western Conference there are as many issues with the other teams as there are with the Blackhawks. The Sharks are only two points in front of the Hawks for the top seed, and have questions surrounding their own situation between the pipes. While Hawks fans might have reasons to question Antti Niemi’s lack of experience and Cristobal Huet’s questionable, albeit limited, results in the postseason, the Sharks have a netminder in Evgeni Nabokov that not only has a resume filled with recent playoff failure, but he just crapped his pants in the Olympics for Russia.

There’s no reason to think that the Hawks can’t catch the Sharks for the top spot, and should have at least even confidence with the Sharks, if not better, in the goalie situation in Chicago. With Vancouver nine points behind the Hawks in in third, and with a tough division chasing them, to assume that the Blackhawks will end the year in one of the top two seeds in the West isn’t far fetched.

So the Central Division and seeding in the playoffs shouldn’t be a concern.

The Blackhawks, despite their offensive droughts and struggles in net, still rank near the top of the NHL in most statistical categories. This team is not bad. It’s easy to scream about soft goals and a bad night when the team’s playing for a championship; remember, two years ago the Blackhawks were trying to remember how to spell the word “playoffs.”

Also consider the reality of what’s left this season.

Because of the Olympics, every team in the NHL will have to slam 20 games into the next five weeks. Simple math indicates that teams will average four games per week, with travel, before the playoffs begin. Whenever a trade, no matter the profile of the player, takes place, there is always an adjustment period that will take place. Before the Olympic break, the Hawks added Kim Johnsson from Minnesota and are still working through who will play how many minutes on the blue line.

Practice is where players get to know each other, and where coaches are best able to gauge how players work with each other. It’s hard, in any sport, to establish flow to a game plan when you’re mixing up players that don’t know each other. But with teams having only two, sometimes three days off per week to not only travel but also practice, working new players into the rotation is going to be hard to during the rest of this year’s regular season.

Another factor the Blackhawks had to consider at the deadline is that Dave Bolland has only played a couple games after returning from injury, and Adam Burish is coming back on Sunday. Adding two smart players to the mix, along with Johnsson, gives coach Joel Quenneville too many pieces to have in uniform every night already. The Blackhawks will have enough trouble picking someone to watch from the suite every night.

Let’s not ignore the reality that every team that will compete for the Stanley Cup this spring had players in the Olympics. This presents a few situations for teams to deal with when considering a trade.

First, the immediate impact of a trade on contending teams is players missing from the ice. On Wednesday night, the Blackhawks host the Edmonton Oilers, who will be without Denis Grebeshkov and Lubomir Visnovsky on their blue line; both players were dealt before the deadline. The Oilers received only a draft pick for Grebeshkov, and won’t have Ryan Whitney (acquired for Visnovsky) in uniform yet for the game. So the Blackhawks will face a depleted defensive unit a night after getting their tails whipped in New York.

The Oilers are just one of many teams that will be without players in key positions tonight. If points are at a premium at this time of year, can a team trying to gain the best position possible in April afford a night with two or three AHL guys playing a major role on the ice? No.

Second, the medium-term impact is trying to work new players into the rotation and still get Olympians the rest they’ll need to be fresh in the postseason. Look at Anaheim, for example. Ryan Getzlaf and Cory Perry played seven games in Vancouver for Canada, and now they’re not only losing Whitney but they’re looking at a roster that is adding Aaron Ward and Visnovsky on the blue line.

The on-ice chemistry will either remain a work-in-progress that will have to be figured out during games (again, potentially costing the team valuable points), or will be achieved through practices on the limited off days the team has in the coming weeks.

The long-term impact on a roster is dead legs. Both Ward and Visnovsky should be key contributors for the Ducks down the stretch, but at what expense to the odometer of their Olympians’ legs? With limited time for rest between now and the end of the season, finding time to be off the ice will be crucial for teams hoping to make a deep run.

Look around the Western Conference. Phoenix improved the most, moving underwhelming Peter Mueller out and adding Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak up front and Matthieu Schneider and Derek Morris on the blue line. The Los Angeles Kings also made a couple solid moves, adding Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin. But outside of Phoenix, LA and Anaheim, nobody in the West did much to make a dramatic improvement.

In the East, the Washington Capitals certainly made some strong moves, as did the Pittsburgh Penguins. But only one of those teams can play the Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup, and anything can happen in a seven game series.

If the Blackhawks were good enough to be at the top of the conference with what they had, if they stay together and avoid the potential headaches that other teams will have to deal with moving forward, they’ll have a great chance to run deep into the playoffs and possibly compete for a Stanley Cup.

During the Olympic break, there will be a number of opportunities to meet current and former Chicago Blackhawks. Below is a list of events where autograph seekers could meet the Hawks.

At the Chevy Dealers/Blackhawks Fun Zone @ the Auto Show:
Bobby Hull – Wednesday, Feb. 17, 5-7 pm
Brent Sopel – Saturday, Feb. 20, 12-2 pm
Troy Brouwer – Sunday, Feb. 21, 12-2 pm

At Hawk Ford – 6100 W. 95th Street in Oak Lawn:
Bobby Hull – Saturday, Feb. 20, 1-3 pm

“Blackhawks Night” @ the Rockford IceHogs -  Rockford MetroCentre, 300 Elm Street in Rockford:
Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer, Colin Fraser, Antti Niemi, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Assistant Coach Mike Haviland and Tommy Hawk - Saturday, Feb. 27 6-6:55 pm

Finally, Andrew Ladd is taking part in the Super Plunge to benefit the Illinois Special Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 27 on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston. If you’re interested in supporting Ladd’s efforts and helping the Special Olympics, you can donte on Ladd’s page here . CommittedIndians‘ founder Tab Bamford, who is an assistant coach on the Riverside-Brookfield High School Special Olympics team, will be jumping with other RBHS representatives that afternoon in the Polar Plunge. Click here to support the RBHS team in the Polar Plunge.

As the Olympics begin, it gives us two weeks to look back at the first 61 games of the season. The standings in the Central Division are updated through the beginning of the break already.

Below are the full team stats for the Blackhawks to date.

Legend: PIM = Penalty Minutes, ATOI = Avg Time on Ice, PPG/A = Power Play Goals/Assists, SHG/S = Shorthanded Goals/Assists, GWG = Game Winning Goals, FO% = Faceoff Win Pct, BS = Blocked Shots.

Legend: SO = Shutouts, TSA = Total Shots Against

Kim Johnsson is formally welcomed to Chicago after his first period goal.

How about that for an introduction to Blackhawks’ hockey?

Just a little more than 24 hours after being traded from Minnesota to Chicago, Kim Johnsson took part in a game that flashed every bit of the first two-thirds of the season. Big scoring, a blown lead, a late comeback and a shootout thriller ended up being the recipe for Johnsson’s debut.

For his part in the 5-4 Hawks win, Johnsson was good enough to earn the game’s Number Three Star. He scored his first goal for Chicago less than ten minutes into his first game here, and would play 19:24 in the game and was credited with one hit and one blocked shot as well.

The game looked like a Hawks blowout at the end of the first period. After Jim Slater scored on a wrap around for Atlanta, the goals came quickly for the Blackhawks. Patrick Sharp scored his 18th of the season, on a power play, at 7:31 in the period. Johnsson would then score on a pretty pass from Patrick Kane at 9:44, and Marian Hossa scored shorthanded at 13:14 to extend the Hawks’ lead to 3-1.

The second period, as has been the trend of late, was a totally different story than the first. The Hawks were not only out-shot early in the period, but were outplayed for most of the frame. On the third penalty of the period the Thrashers were finally able to score on the power play, their third goal of the period and fourth of the game. When the second period ended, the Hawks were trailing 4-3 and were clearly frustrated.

In the third period, unfortunately, it took a huge hit that cost Hossa the rest of the night just a little more than three minutes into the period for the Hawks to wake up. Colby Armstrong caught Hossa looking down, something he rarely does in traffic, and lit him up. From the scrum that followed, both Armstrong and Kris Versteeg were hit with minor penalties. During the four-on-four, Dave Bolland put a gorgeous move on Ondrej Pavelec to tie the game.

Hossa’s status for Sunday’s game has not yet been determined.

From there, the game was skated through the overtime with very little offense from the Thrashers. Atlanta was only credited with four shots in the third period and just three more in overtime. Pavelec was outstanding throughout the third period and the overtime, killing a number of great opportunities for the Blackhawks and fighting off good traffic in front of him to keep the game tied. But when Jonathan Toews put the puck past him in the shootout, it was all the Hawks needed to give Antti Niemi a third win in as many starts.

Niemi, starting a third consecutive game for the first time in the NHL, was great in the first period but wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second. In all, Niemi allowed four goals on 27 shots, but came up big when needed and shut out the Thrashers three shots in the shootout to get the win.

Brent Seabrook, just two days before beginning his quest to help teammates Duncan Keith and Toews lead Canada to a gold medal in men’s hockey at the Olympics, filled the stat sheet as he always does. Seabrook 26:49, of which 7:19 was shorthanded, and was credited with six hits and six blocked shots. Keith again played more than half the game (30:35), despite newly-added Johnsson playing more minutes that Barker averaged for the Hawks. With Brent Sopel out on Saturday night, Jordan Hendry only played 10:10, though.

On Sunday afternoon the Blackhawks finish the first “half” of their season in Columbus only three points behind the San Jose Sharks for the top spot in the Western Conference; San Jose lost 3-1 at Buffalo on Saturday night.

Before the game, the Blackhawks honored their six Olympians before the game. Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky will play for Slovakia, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews will represent host nation Canada, while Patrick Kane will play for the United States.

Out with the Old (Barker), In with the New (Johnsson)

In the wake of the Blackhawks trade with the Wild, let’s look at how newcomer Kim Johnsson stacks up against Cam Barker this year.

Age

Barker: 23 (24 on April 4)

Johnsson: 33 (34 on March 16)

Height/Weight

Barker: 6′3  223 lbs

Johnsson: 6′1  187 lbs

“Soft J’s” in Last Name

Barker: 0

Johnsson: 1

Games Played

Barker: 51

Johnsson: 52

Goals

Barker: 4

Johnson: 6

Assists

Barker: 14

Johnson: 8

Plus/Minus

Barker: +7

Johnsson: +3

Average Time on Ice

Barker: 13:06

Johnsson: 23:46

Hits

Barker: 59

Johnsson: 31

Penalty Minutes

Barker: 58

Johnsson: 26

Blocked Shots

Barker: 33

Johnsson: 64

Short-Handed Time on Ice (average/game)

Barker: 0:02

Johnsson: 2:29

**************

So what do we take away from these numbers? Let me first point out that, in December of 2008, Johnsson served as captain of the Wild. In the ten years he’s been on the earth longer than Barker, he’s played in the 2002 Olympics for Sweden and 43 playoff games; Barker has played in 17 playoff games, all of which were last year.

A few numbers jump off the page. The two that strike me the most are the blocked shots and average short-handed time on ice per game. Johnsson figures to replace Barker on the third defensive pairing with Brent Sopel and should, in theory, play a more significant role in penalty killing.

In a perfect world, Brian Campbell wouldn’t step on the ice short-handed, but because Niklas Hjalmarsson has been banged up, he’s seen more time on the PK lately. The fact that Johnsson averages almost 2:30 per game in short-handed ice time is significant because it will help Sopel stay on the ice further into the playoffs. Despite Sopel’s legendary performance on the PK in overtime against Dallas earlier this week, expecting him to block four shots and play all 120 seconds of a penalty kill in overtime in late April or early May isn’t realistic.

The blocked shots totals are significant because, right now, the Hawks are taking a beating getting between pucks and the net. Every night, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Sopel and Hjalmarsson all seem to leave the ice in pain at some point because they sacrificed their body to keep the puck away from the net. By adding another guy that averages more than one blocked shot per night, coach Joel Quenneville can have more confidence that a veteran will position himself to take one for the team.

Another number that is impressive is the difference between the two in penalty minutes. Considering that Johnsson is averaging more than ten minutes per game more than Barker and has been called for just over half as many penalty minutes means the Hawks are getting a smarter player. The biggest headache Barker gave Blackhawks fans (other than the two guys drafted in front of him) has been stupid penalties. Johnsson’s numbers indicate that he won’t take the dumb penalty.

Adding Johnsson should, as Stan Bowman said when he met with the media on Friday, give Quenneville more options. His presense on the roster should help limit the minutes Keith, Seabrook, Campbell and Hjalmarsson are skating down the stretch, and should put the team into fewer short-handed situations.

Johnsson makes the Blackhawks a better team on paper. But paper can burn, and chances can fade if performance doesn’t match ability and challenges aren’t met. Hopefully this move is the right spark for a team looking to bring home the Stanley Cup for the first time in almost 50 years.

Patrick Kane led the Hawks with two goals on Tuesday night.

Even with a fantastic game happening on the ice, the action off the ice might end up being the headlines after tonight’s Blackhawks win over the Stars.

Antti Niemi allowed three goals on 27 shots, Patrick Kane scored two first period goals and Kris Versteeg closed the deal in the shootout as the Hawks finally beat Dallas for the first time in three games this year. With the 4-3 victory, Niemi has now won starts in consecutive games for the first time this year.

Brent Sopel earned huge hero points in the overtime when he skated an entire two minutes penalty, blocked a handful of shots and, just after the penalty expired and without his stick, swatting the puck around the board with his hand to clear the action out from behind the net. After a couple questionable passes early in the game, Sopelshowed up huge in the overtime and should get a good deal of the credit for the Hawks’ second point on Tuesday night. For the game, Sopel played an incredible 4:45 shorthanded.

For the Stars, Marty Turco did all he could to earn a win. He faced 40 shots, 38 of which were in regulation, and allowed just the two goals to Kane and one to Troy Brouwer in the third period. He continued his excellence in the shootout, but takes the loss after Versteeg beat him.

Both teams might have some drama on their rosters between the final horn and tomorrow morning, though.

First, for the Stars, a trade was consummated during the first period that brings young goaltender Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta in exchange for defenseman prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth round draft pick. Vishnevskiy, 21,was one of Dallas’ top prospects after the Stars selected the in the first round of the 2006 draft. The addition of Lehtonen, who has spent time with the Chicago Wolves, means Dallas has three goalies on their roster.

Turco has been a hot name in rumors for months, and this could only build the speculation that his days in Dallas are numbered or even over. Indeed, rumors began to fly even during Tuesday night’s game that the Stars and Flyers were talking about a deal that would send Turco to Philadelphia in the wake of Ray Emery getting hurt. The Stars play in Calgary on Thursday night, so it will be interesting to see how many plane tickets the Stars have when they arrive at O’Hare this evening.

For the Blackhawks, a small observation from the television crew might lead to some intrigue tonight. John Madden and Colin Fraser both left the bench early (Madden in the second period, Fraser in the third) and were not heard from again. For the game, Madden played just 9:12 and Fraser saw only 6:50 on the ice. Versteeg stepped in as a third center as the Hawks played with abbreviated lines throughout the third period. What made the move even more frustrating was that Madden had won 10 of 12 faceoffs before leaving. Versteeg, however, won four of five faceoffs in his time in the circle and looked good between Marian Hossa and Brouwer.

According to coach Joel Quenneville after the game, Madden sustained a lower body injury and is doubtful for the two games this weekend. Fraser appeared to take a puck to the face and did not return. Whether or not these injuries lead to a roster move is questionable; it’s more likely that it could keep Stan Bowman from pulling the trigger before the Olympics. We’ll see if Jordan Hendry skates as a forward over the weekend or if a player is brought up from Rockford, perhaps Jacob Dowell or Jack Skille.

The Blackhawks failed to score on the power play again on Tuesday, going 0-3 with the advantage. The Hawks now haven’t scored with an advantage in six games and have only scored once in 25 opportunities over their last eight games.

Patrick Kane celebrates his first period goal.

After almost three weeks and eight games on the road, and with Dave Bolland returning to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 5, the Blackhawks figured to get an emotional lift on Wednesday night.

Everything started well. Patrick Kane scored 7:40 in to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage, which they held through the end of the first period. In the frame, the Hawks held the Blues to only three shots on net, none of which came in the first nine minutes.

Then the second period happened.

On only nine shots, the Blues scored three times against Cristobal Huet, the last two of which came in a back-breaking flurry to end the period. “Bad Huet” showed up on a night when Antti Niemi was supposed to start but was a morning scratch because of the flu. The Hawks didn’t help Huet much in the second, as sloppy passing and lazy puck handling contributed to the demise, but allowing three goals on only 12 shots to a team that only averages 2.53 goals per game (24th in the NHL) is unacceptable. The 19 shots the Blues put on net was their lowest total since the day after Christmas, when they only got 18 shots to the net against Minnesota.

Dave Bolland played well Wednesday.

Wow.

In a game that many, including CommittedIndians, billed at the Game of the Year, the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks gave the viewing audience every ounce of effort we could have asked for in an incredible game that was really a tale of four period.

In the first, the Hawks came out with a stampede of offense. After failing to register a shot for five minutes, the flood gates opened as Evgeni Nabokov allowed three goals on the first six shots he faced. What made matters worse for San Jose was that the three goals came from three different lines for the Hawks.

Dustin Byfuglien started the part with his 14th of the year at 5:02 into the first. Only 48 seconds later it was Troy Brouwer lighting the lamp for his 16th of the year. Finally, Andrew Ladd poked in a fat rebound at 8:23 for his 10th on the campaign. The Sharks, who had been off for four days before the game and had won their last five coming in were absolutely shell-shocked, and burned their timeout before the game was even half way through the first period. The Hawks were completely dominating the Sharks, controlling the puck on either end and stifling the Sharks first power play in their defensive zone.

But after the timeout, things settled down. Joe Pavelski got behind Duncan Keith and scored on a nice redirect at 11:52 to cut the lead to two, and, more importantly, the momentum of the Blackhawks.

In the second period the Sharks turned the tables on the Blackhawks. In a period that saw the Sharks get 19 shots on Cristobal Huet and some sloppy passing in their defensive zone, the Hawks were fortunate to escape with a 3-2 lead. It was Pavelski, again, scoring for the Sharks, this time at the mid point of a power play to bring some life back into the building and some breath into the Sharks’ offense. When the second period concluded, it was clear that the Sharks were not going to roll over and get blown out like they did in the Hawks first game in California.

Just under five minutes into the third, Manny Malhotra got just enough of a Rob Blake blast to escape Huet and tie the game at three after a bad turnover by Brent Sopel behind the net. The Sharks were taking it to the Hawks, and now had the momentum. But just as San Jose did in the first period, Joel Quenneville used his timeout to perfection and called his exhausted group of road warriors together to re-focus their effort.

Whatever Quenneville said should have been recorded and given to every other coach in Chicago, because it worked.

From that point on, the Blackhawks energy miraculously reappeared and the action became a spirited back-and-forth affair with great defense and skating from both teams worthy of the hype this game had received. Make no mistake, this was a game being played at playoff-level intensity and both teams knew exactly what was on the line.

With around eight minutes left in the game, Keith made maybe the biggest defensive play of the Hawks season to date. His fellow Canadian Olympian Joe Thornton had the puck sprinting up the right board and wound up for a cannon shot on net. Keith laid out and took the full force of the shot around the ankle, blocking the shot and perhaps saving the game. Keith was obviously in pain after the play, but his grimaces and the tie score reminded Hawks fans why the organization just committed 13 years to him.

Thornton was called for a delay of game penalty with 87 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Hawks were able to get one last rush at Nabokov. The San Jose netminder was up to the task, though, and the game was extended to overtime.

After the three periods of regulation, both teams had registered 37 shots. Many of the shots by both teams were in traffic, heavily contested, and the saves by both Nabokov and the much-maligned Huet were exceptional. Indeed, many questions regarding Huet’s ability to play big in a big game were answered on Thursday night. Despite the defense in front of him taking the entire second and most of the third period off, and in the face of a team that has nine players travelling to Vancouver in February as Olympians, Huet was up to the task and played a magnificent game.

In the overtime, after the barrage that both goalies faced, only two shots made their way to the net. Both were from the Blackhawks, and the second was the second goal of the game for Brouwer, his 17th of the game. Niklas Hjalmarsson made an aggressive move to take the puck away high in the Hawks’ defensive zone, and got the outlet to Brouwer on the right boards. Kris Versteeg did a great job of streaking hard to the net and providing just enough of a screen for Brouwer, who’s wrist shot was true to end an exhausting game.

For the night, Brent Seabrook was credited with five blocked shots to lead the team, Brian Campbell led the team with a +3, Ladd led the team with four hits to compliment his first period goal, and Brouwer continued his breakout season with two goals on only three shots and was credited with three hits.

The Blackhawks have now won three of four games against the Sharks, but the irony of this great game going into overtime is that, despite winning the game, the Hawks still trail the Sharks by one point in the Western Conference standings.

In the seventh game of a long road trip that’s included a goalie controversy, blown leads and topless players in a limo in Vancouver, the focus, drive and will to win displayed by the Blackhawks on Thursday night serves notice that they’re absolutely for real, and are a legitimate threat to win it all this year.