"Some of the laughter in the Blackhawks' dressing room has been replaced by the shaking of heads as players attempt to explain just what has gone wrong during their recent slide.

The smiles aren't as quick to come as they were when the Hawks were on top of the NHL just last month, but there haven't been any finger-pointing incidents or players-only meetings as the team has stuck together in the face of adversity.

"I'm happy with how guys are in the room," captain Jonathan Toews said before the Sharks extended the Hawks' losing streak to seven with a 5-3 victory Friday night at HP Pavilion. "We're positive (and) having fun. We're enjoying being around each other — just the way it should be on the road.

"We know we're not getting the results we want lately, (but) we're not carrying that over into our everyday life. When it's time to go to work and time to practice … we're businesslike. When we're away from the rink we're not dwelling on the negative things too much."

If they so desired, the Hawks could find plenty of negatives to dwell upon during this season-high nine-game trip that has begun with four consecutive losses. The offense has been stagnant, the defense abysmal, the goaltending shaky and the special teams anything but special."