HAWKS ANSWER MARK'S BELL
Left wing's two goals send Chicago on circus trip with confidence

By: Gary Zahara

Mark Bell and the Chicago Blackhawks haven't had much to laugh about this season, but Sunday's game provided some comic relief. The left wing broke out and scored two goals and missed a hat trick twice in the final minute as the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in front of 15,229 at the United Center.

Nikolai Khabibulin(6-10-0) had one of his strongest games of the year with 26 saves and Duncan Keith added a goal and an assist to send Chicago(7-11-0) on their annual circus road trip with a glimmer of hope for success. Ironically the Hawks started out like they have been playing, slow and sloppy with no shots in the first ten minutes. They registered their first shot with 9:45 left in the first period, a wrist shot from the blue line by Keith which got past Oiler goalie Jussi Markkanen. Three minutes later, Bell came out of the penalty box and scored on a breakaway for the Hawks second goal on their second shot.

Just two minutes later, he took a Kyle Calder feed and fired a wrist shot from the right face off circle past Markkanen to cap off the scoring for the offensively inept Hawks.

"I think we beat them in every other category of the game than goaltending, Markkanen said. He (Khabibulin) was good and I had one bad period.''

It was Bell's first two goal-game this season and third of his career. With Markkanen out for the extra attacker, Bell missed two chances for his first career hat trick.

He hit the post with his first shot, his second attempt from his own zone was fired wide.

'The puck was kind of following me around,'' Bell said. "But I'm laughing at myself right now. Friends are going to be calling be because this game was on TV in Canada."

Khabibulin, the highest paid player in Blackhawk history, subjected to harsh criticism for his play the first month of the season, came up big when his team needed him to. His biggest save was point blank on Edmonton's Jarret Stoll early in the first. But the Stanley Cup champion goaltender sees room for improvement.

"I don't think it was my best game, but we got the two points and that's what matters," Khabibulin said. "I think when the guys get to know each other a little more, it will help. I see progress.

"Tonight, I got to see the puck," he added. "When I didn't see it, guys were blocking it. If there were any rebounds, they were clearing them."

The Hawks penalty killers finally clamped down and showed what their capable of, killing off all eight of Edmonton's chances.

"We played much better in the second and third periods. I wasn't happy with the first. We were outshot and running around in our own end," Hawks head coach Trent Yawney said.

"I think we are better prepared for this road trip, but we need to shore up the power play and certainly improve our penalty killing." Yawney added.

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