If nothing else, we aim to please at CommittedIndians, and received an insightful question that warranted not only an answer, but some research as well.

Tom, a regular reader, asked what the Blackhawks’ record was in the new alternate third jerseys this year. So, we did some research, and came up with the following fun facts.

The Hawks will wear the third alternate jerseys 12 times this year, and still have six of those games remaining in the final 18 of the season. Nothing like driving sales through the finish, right?

So far, the third jerseys have been worn on Dec. 1 and 22, Jan. 5, Feb. 9 and 14 and March 2. In those six games, the Blackhawks are 4-2-0 with three shoot-out victories.

But looking deeper into the games is more intriguing…

Cristobal Huet has started three of the six, but relieved Antti Niemi in the Rangers game. Overall, Huet has allowed nine goals on 74 shots (.878 sv pct), while Niemi has allowed ten goals on 67 shots (.851 sv pct). The ugliest performance from Huet was the Dec. 22 loss to San Jose at the United Center, when he allowed three goals on only 14 shots. Obviously the start in New York was Niemi’s worst in the alternate jersey.

The defense in front of the netminders hasn’t been that bad. Opponents have only put an average of 23.5 shots per game on net, but have scored 3.17 goals per game. The Hawks have only allowed three goals on 22 power plays, an 86 percent kill rate.

On offense, it’s been all about Patrick Kane in the alternate jerseys this year. He has six goals in the six games in the alternates, and Marian Hossa has two multi-point games to lead the team. Patrick Sharp has also played well in the third jerseys, scoring two goals. The Hawks have only scored on six of 26 power plays in the third jerseys, though, good for only a 23 percent conversation rate. Jonathan Toews has won 72 of 127 faceoffs in the third jerseys (57%). The Hawks have supported their goalies with 3.50 goals per game of offense.

One point that was odd regarding the six games in the third jerseys that was odd was the number of players that have scored. Besides Kane, Hossa and Sharp, eight Blackhawks have scored a goal in an alternate jersey this year: Toews, Kris Versteeg, John Madden, Troy Brouwer, Bryan Bickell, Jacob Dowell, Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell.

The Blackhawks will wear the alternate jerseys six more times this yeah:

• March 13 – @ Philadelphia
• March 23 – Phoenix
• March 28 – Columbus
• March 30 – @ St. Louis
• April 4 – Calgary
• April 6 – @ Dallas

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.

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.

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.

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.

After a rare poor performance at the United Center on Friday night, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was clear that some things needed to change. The apathy needed to die, or the season’s longest losing streak wouldn’t.

On Saturday night, the effort was night-and-day different from Friday’s weak performance. Antti Niemi returned from the flu with a spectacular performance, and the physical play that was glaringly missing on Friday was clearly present in St. Louis.

The start of the changes came from Quenneville, who made some fairly dramatic changes to the lines. He put Patrick Sharp back with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, with whom he skated for most of last year. He also bumped Tomas Kopecky up to the second line with Dave Bolland and Marian Hossa. Troy Brouwer shifted down to the third line with John Madden and Dustin Byfuglien, and Andrew Ladd moved down to the fourth line with Kris Versteeg and Colin Fraser. Lots of changes, but clearly they worked.

Toews placed himself at the forefront of the accountability list, as any good captain should, and he responded with an incredibly strong first period. He pushed a rebound back in front of the net where Sharp was able to score the first goal of the night early in the first period, and then received a gorgeous pass from Kane to score the second goal. In the first, Toews had two points, was (obviously) +2, and won six of his seven faceoffs.

Niemi received a significantly better effort from the defensemen in front of him on Saturday than Huet had in at least the last two, if not four, games. Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook were especially impressive, blocking shots at key times throughout the game and both taking, and giving, big hits all night. Seabrook was credited with three blocks and Hjalmarsson was credited with only two, and neither number feels adequate for the work the two did against the Blues. Seabrook was credited with five hits to lead a physical attack from the Hawks as well.

The story of the game has to center around the Number One Star: Niemi. Having not played since being removed after one period in Vancouver two weeks ago and then missing his last start because of the flu, Niemi returned in magnificent fashion to earn a very important victory for the Hawks. He stopped 34 of 35 shots, and the one goal he did allow was during a six-on-three rush with under two minutes left in the game.

He did get a little help from the zebras, though, as a quick whistle took a goal away from the Blues early in the second period. That doesn’t take away from a stellar performance that will undoubtedly re-open the controversy between the pipes in Chicago. Coming into Saturday night’s game, and including the three-goal, one-period performance in Vancouver, Niemi’s road numbers were ridiculous: 7-2-1 with a .943 save percentage and a 1.53 goals against average.

The Blackhawks PK was tested a lot on Saturday night, and was thankfully up to the task. The Hawks had to kill eight penalties in the game, and were up to the task until the final two minutes when St. Louis pulled Chris Mason out of the net to have a three-skater advantage. Even then, the Hawks did a good job of keeping active sticks in the passing lanes and clearing any rebounds Niemi left on the ice, but couldn’t keep the puck out of the net for any longer.

The power play offense for the Hawks remains a point of frustration, as the unit was unable to score in five chances on Saturday night. The effort was clearly better on the road than the home fans received just a day before, though, and the Hawks held their early lead though the final horn to get back into the win column.

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.