"Sure, the Detroit Red Wings were missing a ton of key players. That's part of the reason the Blackhawks had an easy time with their archrivals Sunday at the United Center.

Still, the Hawks' 3-0 victory showed something rarely seen in the longest-standing rivalry in the NHL -- dominance. At one stretch in the first period, Hawks goalie Cristobal Huet went 13 minutes without facing a shot.

''That has to be mentally challenging,'' Huet said after notching his third shutout of the season. ''I had to challenge myself to be ready for the next shot, and it took awhile. But that's always a good sign that the team is playing a good puck-possession game and doing a lot of the right things.''

The Hawks did do a lot of things right in winning their fifth consecutive home game and 13th in the last 14 at the United Center. The season-high attendance number went up again, too, when 21,781 packed the building for the 70th sellout in a row.

''I really like the way we played in all aspects of the game,'' said coach Joel Quenneville, and he had every reason to feel that way. This win produced something from everyone."