The Blackhawks' Ryan Johnson hits the ice during the first period. (Chris Sweda/Tribune) More photos>>
By Brian Hamilton
After a couple of swipes at a loose puck in front of a gaping net proved fruitless, Blackhawks winger Troy Brouwer spun around and threw his head back in aggravation, unleashing an expletive after a moment.
After his rocket shot from the point pinged off the crossbar and bounded away, defenseman Duncan Keith stared at the United Center scoreboard overhead, as if he required re-convincing that his luck was that bad.
And after a referee's whistle preempted a late score that could have changed the complexion of the game, Jonathan Toews threw his hands up in utter disbelief. There was a lot of that going around Tuesday in the Hawks' 4-2 loss to the Wild, a frustrating night that will fester over the All-Star break until next Tuesday night's game against the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
"It's the type of game you can't believe you didn't come out without two points, but at the same time, we know we didn't play our best hockey," Toews said.
"Sometimes you deserve to miss some big chances like that when not everyone is playing their best. We had a lot of energy, a lot of pressure in the first period, but we didn't keep that going for 60 minutes. I think we wanted an easy win tonight, and we weren't going to get it."
Given that three weeks will elapse before the Hawks take the United Center ice again, and given that the Wild are nipping at their heels in the claustrophobic Western Conference playoff picture, the game merited a bit of a heightened alert level.
And the Hawks demonstrated urgency in the first period, taking a 2-1 lead into the intermission off goals from Patrick Sharp and Brouwer. They just swooned from there, allowing three unanswered scores.
"You definitely have something to think about," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We should all come back with an attitude that we're not happy and we're sour and we have to do something about it. Very, very unhappy about the way the result came out and how it ended up."
The All-Star break beckons, with the Hawks suffering a 13th home loss after eight defeats on United Center ice all of last season, with 32 games left to accrue the 35 to 40 points they likely need merely to qualify for the postseason.
There is, undoubtedly, much to contemplate before they resume practice Monday.
"It just seemed like every time (momentum) changed it went back and then they came back with another goal," goalie Corey Crawford said. "It was just a tough way to play."
Source: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2011/01/hawks-game-day-hossa-out-all-star-break-looms.html
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