Hawks top Sharks in battle of NHL's top teams

Thursday's 4-3 overtime win at San Jose did not elevate the Chicago Blackhakws into the NHL points lead, but it did give them definite bragging rights on the Sharks for the regular season.

Because the Sharks got one point for the overtime loss, they maintain a 1-point lead on the Hawks in the battle for Western Conference home ice, 79-78. No other Western team has more than Vancouver's 68 points. Washington is third in the entire NHL with 76, and no other Eastern Conference team has more than 70 points.

With nearly 30 games left before the playoffs, Chicago still has plenty of time to catch San Jose and make sure the maximum possible number of postseason games are played in the United Center. No matter where the Hawks meet the Sharks in the playoffs, they should enter with a lot of confidence. They defeated San Jose in three of the four meetings between the teams this season, and they proved Thursday that they could win at San Jose, even when road weary and facing a rested Sharks team.

There were numerous great signs last night. One was the play of LW Andrew Ladd, who is one of the few Hawk skaters with whom I've been disappointed this season. Not only did Ladd scored the third of three first-period Chicago goals, he helped counter the San Jose physicality by putting Sharks superstar Joe Thornton on the ice in a key moment late in the game. And I've been very hard on Chicago goalie Cristobal Huet, but he played a fairly strong game last night despite letting three goals in, stopping 34 shots with a couple of spectacular saves.

One game remains on the Hawks' 8-game road trip, as they are at lowly Carolina Saturday evening. If they avoid a letdown, they'll finish the trip 6-2, which would be great.