Complacency could be a killer as Hawks fight for playoffs

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

BOSTON — After another setback for the Blackhawks on Tuesday in Boston, defenseman Duncan Keith wanted to be clear:

The Bruins’ 3-0 blanking of the Hawks — who have been good playing back-to-back nights under coach Joel Quenneville — had nothing to do with spending their emotions in a 3-2 win in Detroit a night earlier.

‘‘To blame it on that would be embarrassing,’’ Keith said. ‘‘I don’t think it’s tough to play two games in a row. If it was too hard to play two games in a row, we probably shouldn’t be in the NHL. There’s no excuses. There’s no tired legs. It’s all about battle, effort and heart. That’s what it comes down to.’’

All season, that ‘‘battle, effort and heart’’ has disappeared in stretches, allowing opponents to seize an advantage. The Hawks are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Quenne­ville said the Bruins were ‘‘hungrier” than his players Tuesday night.

With so few games left and the Hawks’ playoff chances in jeopardy, how does that happen — and why does it happen so often?

‘‘I guess getting two [points] is OK,’’ Quenneville said. ‘‘But when you have two already, you can’t be too happy.’’

With six games left in the regular season, complacency clearly remains a hurdle. The Hawks have shown a reluctance to be consistently physical and have allowed 83 goals in the third period — fifth most in the NHL before Wednesday’s games.

Unlike injuries, that’s something they can control, and even the new Hawks see it.

‘‘I feel like we’ve got a good club in here, but we have a tendency to let our guard down a little bit,’’ defenseman Chris Campoli said in Detroit.

The thinking among the Hawks has been that if they do reach the playoffs — still likely with them holding cushions over the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames in the Western Conference standings — then something will click, and watch out.

But haven’t the Hawks said for weeks that every game is like the playoffs? And after every loss, haven’t they stressed the need for more effort and focus?

‘‘There was another level we needed to get to [against the Bruins] and needed to find,’’ Keith said. ‘‘And we didn’t get it.’’

Maybe they’ll reach that level in the playoffs — if they get there. For now, expectations still are relatively high, at least in their own locker room. And other teams know what they’re capable of doing.

‘‘I watched a little bit of [the Hawks’ game against the Red Wings on Monday], and they worked hard,’’ Bruins forward Patrice Ber­geron said Tuesday. ‘‘They were the first on the puck, and that’s something that we talked about — that we need to make sure that we keep our feet moving and we’re first on the puck because they have so much talent and a lot of speed, too. It’s something that was very important, and I thought we did just that.’’