Anyway, Kopecky was ruled out with the dreaded upper body injury, so Evan Brophy got to center Brian Bickell and Fernando Pisani, while Dave Bolland played with Hossa and Brouwer and Sharp, Kane and Toews were reunited.  This worked well for most of the first two period, as Toews and Sharp scored to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead.  But 40 seconds left in the 2nd, Jake Dowell and Nick Boyton decided to stand around and watch the puck behind the net leaving Derek Brossard alone to score on a centering feed from Jakub Voracek.  6 seconds later, Troy Brouwer nearly brained Fedor Tyutin with a push from behind and went to the box for 5 minutes.  Columbus scored once on the power play, then tipped home a shot in the last 10 minutes to win the game.  

Toews/Kane/Sharp - it was fun to see this line together for a while anyway.  They produced the Hawks even strength goal and generated several other chances.  Chances that Jonathan Toews will bury once the calendar flips to November.

Niklas Hjalmarsson - This was probably Hammer's best game of the season.  He played well on the penalty kill and blocked a ton of shots.

Jack Skille - I know everybody loves the motor on our 4th line with Skille and Stalberg, but only John Scott spends more time falling on the ice than Skille.  Also, Skille couldn't finish this senten

Dave Bolland - his lack of production has been blamed on his linemates to this point.  Well, tonight he skated with Brouwer and Hossa and was still MIA.

Nick Boynton - Savvy veteran defensemen are not supposed to stand around watching the puck behind the net and ignoring the guy who is waltzing into the slot unmolested.

Losing to Columbus is never pretty.  Blowing a two goal lead to them?  Yuck.

DID YOU KNOW:  With 29:08 of ice time tonight, Duncan Keith is on pace to play 742,326,478 minutes this year.  By my calculations, this is actually impossible, and will cause a rip in the fabric of time which result in humans being conquered by sentient dinosaurs.  All because of Gary Bettman and his salary cap.

Up Next:  The Hawks are off until Wednesday, so they'll get some much needed rest, then take on LA Kings in what should be a terrific game.