"You have to wonder if the normally stoic Nikolai Khabibulin is allowing himself a slight smirk at the sight of the Blackhawks' current goaltending situation.

Heck, maybe the former Hawk and current Edmonton Oiler is guffawing behind his goalie mask as he hits town in the midst of what could be turning into a dilemma between the pipes in his old locale.

Khabibulin and his Oilers teammates will take on the Hawks Wednesday at the United Center. What the Oilers missed Monday night as they were handing the Predators a 6-1 loss in Nashville was the Hawks' amazing rally from a 5-0, first-period deficit to stun the Flames 6-5 in overtime.

Not quite lost in the euphoria of the comeback was how it came to be that the Hawks were down that much in the first place. Cristobal Huet yielded three goals on the Flames' first five shots. Rookie Antti Niemi replaced him and allowed two more goals in the first period before settling down and eventually recording the victory.

Khabibulin is used to the Hawks rotating goalies, as he split time with Huet last season before signing with the Oilers as a free agent. That ended the Russian's four seasons with the Hawks, which began in 2005 when he signed a $27 million deal. It wasn't until the Hawks' run to the Western Conference finals last season that many believe Khabibulin finally justified that large price tag.

Though Oilers backup Jeff Deslauriers picked up the victory over the Predators, Khabibulin is entrenched as Edmonton's starting goalie. He is 2-1-1 with a 3.13 goals-against average and .890 save percentage.

As for playing the Hawks, Khabibulin told edmontonoilers.com that "It's only two points. They don't give three points for beating your old team. We came here to try to win and that's about it."

After the first-period debacle Monday night, Huet is 1-1-1 with a 3.69 goals-against and .831 save mark. Niemi, who won the backup job over Corey Crawford in training camp, is 2-0-0 with a 1.06 GAA and .947 save percentage.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville, who has continued to back Huet despite his lapses during the Hawks' 3-1-1 start, was non-committal after Monday's Miracle on Madison.

"We have back-to-back games (so) we'll see," Quenneville said. "Antti came in and got a win. We'll discuss it.""