DENVER -- The Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche appear destined to play long games. They went nine rounds into a shootout in the Hawks' first game at the United Center this season before the Hawks pulled out a victory, and Friday the shootout went eight tension-packed rounds.
The Avalanche took this one 4-3, with Chris Stewart making the decisive conversion before Dustin Byfuglien shot wide on his attempt to send the shootout to a ninth round. The Hawks couldn't feel too bad. They salvaged a point against the top team in the Western Conference without their top two centers.
(AP)
It was bad enough that the Hawks had to play their last six games without top-line center Jonathan Toews. On Friday, they also had to do without second-line center Dave Bolland, who has been nursing a sore back.
The point pulled the Hawks even with Columbus for the lead in the Central Division.
''In a shootout anything can happen,'' Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ''Our guys played hard. They did a lot of good things.''
Toews, recovering from a two-week layoff caused by a concussion, skated for the third straight day during the morning skate but still wasn't ready for game duty. Neither was fourth-line winger Ben Eager, also a concussion victim, who missed his 13th straight game. Quenneville said Toews and Eager could return to the lineup in one of the home games this week.
Bolland's back ailment has been a seasonlong thing, and more substantial treatment might be needed.
''We'll see. There was no defining blow,'' Quenneville said of Bolland's most recent flareup. ''We'll see how he is on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes he has some good days.''
With Toews and Bolland out, the Hawks used Kris Versteeg as a center along with John Madden, Andrew Ebbett and Colin Fraser. Bryan Bickell was called up from Rockford to fill a winger's spot.
Quenneville opted for rookie Antti Niemi in goal, his first game since Oct. 21. Cristobal Huet started the previous five games.
''There's no controversy with us,'' Quenneville said. ''Huet had a nice stretch with back-to-back games and Niemi played well every time he was in there. This gives him a good chance.''
The Hawks staked Niemi to a two-goal lead in the first period, with Byfuglien scoring on their first power-play opportunity and Duncan Keith tallying off Versteeg's feed from behind the net. Versteeg also had a helper on Byfuglien's goal. Patrick Kane assisted on both of the first-period scores.
Ryan O'Reilly cut the lead in half when he scored during a scramble in front of Niemi with 1:22 left in the period. David Jones tied it with a short-handed goal 7:43 into the second.
Jones' shorty, in which he skated around Byfuglien before putting the puck past Niemi, started a horrid two minutes for the Hawks.
Just as that power play was ending, the Avalanche scored again, O'Reilly getting his second goal on a breakaway in which he scored off his own rebound. Then Niemi toughened, and the Avs' lead didn't last long. The Hawks rallied for a 3-3 tie on Andrew Ladd's tap-in. The play started with Sharp blasting the puck from the left circle and Anderson leaving a bad rebound that set up Ladd.
''[Niemi] battled. He stood his ground when Colorado came at us pretty hard,'' Quenneville said.
After a scoreless third period and overtime, the Hawks took the lead in the shootout when Kane converted as the second shooter. Niemi couldn't stop Colorado's third man, Marek Svatos, and there was no further scoring until Stewart's game-winner.
AVALANCHE 4, HAWKS 3