Feb. 06--Patrick Sharp was reminded by one of his daughters just how long the seven-game road trip that began Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh has been for the Blackhawks.
"She said, 'Daddy, Daddy, your mustache is painted back on,' " the Hawks left winger said Thursday after practice at Johnny's IceHouse West.
Sharp's pit stop home to Chicago preceded a return home of sorts to Winnipeg, where he was born.
He and fellow Winnipegians Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith hope to bring some offense with them when the Blackhawks face the Jets on Friday night.
A week, which included back-to-back shutouts, has passed since the Blackhawks last scored, the first time that has happened since October 2006.
"Haven't seen that in a while," Sharp said. "We're moving past it. The first part of the road trip is over. We've got two big games coming up."
The 3-0 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday lacked Blackhawks luster. They were outshot 43-24 in what coach Joel Quenneville called a "garbage game where nothing was happening."
The third-place Hawks (31-18-2) lead the Jets (26-18-9) by three points in the Central but are 0-3 against them while being outscored 10-3, including a 1-0 shutout at the United Center on Nov. 2.
"When you stand around and wait for the puck to be given to you, oftentimes it doesn't come," Sharp said. "The strength of our team is playing in those five-man groups. We've got the best defensive core in the league, in my opinion, and they do a great job of getting the pucks to the forwards. It's up to us to help them out.
"Knowing what (the Jets) have done to us this year, we want to give a great effort."
Quenneville addressed the team's mood -- at least what he thought it should be -- during Thursday's practice.
"He talked about how we all shouldn't be happy," center Andrew Shaw said. "We aren't happy.
"(Winnipeg) has come into our building and outworked us. We took them lightly."
That likely won't be the case Friday. Quenneville expressed concern with his team's struggles in front of the net, especially with so many teams jockeying for playoff position in the Central.
"You look at our division and everybody's above .500," Quenneville said. "Everybody thinks they can get in and everybody thinks they can win. That's how challenging and meaningful these games are, and that's not going to stop until the end of the year."
Sharp didn't disagree, saying a loss is a loss, whether his team scores two goals or none. Though he admitted the showing in Minnesota was "a little embarrassing."
"Points are valuable whenever you can get them -- October, April, it doesn't matter," Sharp said. "There's eight, 10, 11 teams that are fighting for those playoff spots, so we should start gathering some points quickly."
pskrbina@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChiTribSkrbina
