Updated: Sunday, Jan. 8 at 10:25 p.m.
The Blackhawks had several opportunities to get some breathing room over the Detroit Red Wings. They couldnt convert on enough of them, and the Wings took advantage late.
Patrick Sharp scored his 20th goal of the season for an early 2-0 lead, but the Blackhawks lost that and Sharp as they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Wings on Sunday night. The Blackhawks dropped to 0-3-1 in January and to fifth overall in the Western Conference.
The big concern at the moment is Sharp, who suffered an upper-body injury in the first period. He did not come out for the second and third periods. Coach Joel Quenneville said theyll run some tests with Sharp and know more about his status on Monday.
It was a crazy ending with Henrik Zetterberg scoring with less than five minutes in regulation to tie it and Pavel Datsyuk getting the game-winner in overtime. Corey Crawford wasnt happy with the Wings second goal.
A guy came in and lifted my stick before the puck was even near there. Thats how it went under, he said. I guess they just dont pick up on that stuff. We shouldve won that game. The guy came in and interfered. Its embarrassing.
When asked if there shouldve been some Detroit penalties late, Quenneville talked of the opportunities the Blackhawks did have and didnt capitalize on.
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We had a couple of power-plays that would have been nice; would have been nice to score on the penalty shot, he said. Thats what it is: tight game, a couple of rolling pucks, one went in and one didnt go in.
Defenseman Duncan Keith concurred.
We get another (goal) there and it definitely helps us out and puts us in a better spot, he said. We had chances to score. It was close the whole way and they ended up finding a way at the end.
The Blackhawks scored two goals in 44 seconds in the first period, the first a power-play goal by Dave Bolland and the second Sharps. The Blackhawks had four power plays on the night, scoring on just that first one. They thought they scored an even-strength goal midway through the third period but video review proved inconclusive on it crossing the goal line. Jimmy Hayes was awarded a penalty shot on that play, however, but Ty Conklin stopped it.
It was a good effort by (Hayes). Its a tough situation, a lot of pressure in that circumstance, but it doesnt have to come down to that, Jonathan Toews said. Weve got to find a way to close out 60 minutes and play hard the way we did in the first two and protect that one-goal lead.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, considering the Blackhawks played the type of game they wanted. Theyve left points out there to start this month and theyve lost some ground in the West. They know there are improvements to be made, but theyre not panicking.
That race weve had, we might have been ahead of those teams but it wasnt like we were light years ahead of them, Quenneville said. Its a one-, two-point swing here, everybodys in the mix. I see this battle going on all year and the conference is tightening up as well. We did give away a lot of ground here this week and its up to us to regain where were at.