"As good as Patrick Sharp has been for the Blackhawks, there's a dark cloud hanging over his head or at least his stat line. You really can't miss it.

Sharp has a team-worst minus-11 rating.

''It definitely hangs over your head,'' Sharp said. ''It's embarrassing. But I'm not going to doubt myself or my teammates. I know that number will change for the good.''

Plus-minus ratings can be deceiving. Sometimes players are in the middle of line changes when an opponent scores and have little to do with the minus rating they're handed. Other times it's their fault.

But Sharp is considered one of the better two-way players in the NHL. He was a plus-10 last postseason, trailing only Brian Campbell (plus-11). So as one of the Hawks' leading scorers, his rating sticks out.

''There was one game [where] he had a tough night,'' coach Joel Quenneville said of Sharp's minus-5 against the New Jersey Devils, which included two empty-net goals. ''Those come around every few years. Then you have to work your way back to get to even off of it. That was basically how the number gets a little inflated."