Chicago Blackhawks Week Ahead: Stanley Cup Rematch

Pretty much everything I said would happen in last week’s look at the Chicago Blackhawks’ week ahead didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop taking a look at what’s next for our Blackhawks. If I could apply this theory to help the Chicago Cubs defeat the New York Mets in some way, though …

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Anyway, the Blackhawks have a short week as far as on-ice action. They didn’t open the previous week until Wednesday, and they won’t play their first game of these seven days until Thursday. They’ll only have two contests this week, both at the United Center as part of a really drawn-out four-game homestand. The men in the Indian Head are just 3-3-0 after a rough previous week, though they’re coming off a 4-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Before we talk about their future opponents, let’s get an update on the Blackhawks’ individual statistics:

Forwards

Artem Anisimov: 6 games, 2 goals, 1 assist, plus-2 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 9 shots

Kyle Baun: 2 game, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 1 shot

Bryan Bickell: 6 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 4 shots

Andrew Desjardins: 6 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-3 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 6 shots

Ryan Garbutt: 5 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-1 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 10 shots

Vincent Hinostroza: 1 game, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 2 shots

Marian Hossa: 6 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, minus-1 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 19 shots

Patrick Kane: 6 games, 4 goals, 3 assists, plus-3 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 26 shots

Marcus Kruger: 6 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-3 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 6 shots

Artemi Panarin: 6 games, 2 goals, 5 assists, plus-4 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 16 shots

Andrew Shaw: 6 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, minus-1 rating, 6 penalty minutes, 6 shots

Teuvo Teravainen: 6 games, 2 goals, 1 assist, minus-1 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 19 shots

Viktor Tikhonov: 4 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-3 rating, 4 penalty minutes, 6 shots

Jonathan Toews: 6 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, plus-1 rating, 6 penalty minutes, 11 shots

Defensemen

Trevor Daley: 6 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, plus-1 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 9 shots

Niklas Hjalmarsson: 6 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, minus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 4 shots

Duncan Keith: 6 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, minus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 8 shots

David Rundblad: 1 game, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 2 shots

Brent Seabrook: 6 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 11 shots

Viktor Svedberg: 5 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 0 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 10 shots

Trevor van Riemsdyk: 6 games, 1 goal, 1 assist, plus-1 rating, 5 penalty minutes, 5 shots

Goaltenders

Corey Crawford: 4 starts, 2 wins, 2 losses, 0 shutouts, .922 save percentage, 2.25 goals-allowed average

Scott Darling: 2 start, 1 win, 1 loss, 0 shutouts, .906 save percentage, 2.50 goals-allowed average

Unfortunately, the team’s discipline slipped a bit last week, as several players added penalty minutes to their ledgers. However, not all of those were totally negative. Tikhonov stood up for Toews at one point after he was roughed up in a road game, and Van Riemsdyk wound up fighting against Columbus on behalf of Teuvo, who was on the receiving end of some Blue Jackets frustration. Those are team-building penalties that you’ll accept.

The plus/minus ratings of many players also trended downward, though a 1-2-0 week will do that. On the plus side, several players are getting the puck to the net, so it’s only a matter of time before we have more than eight multi-point skaters on the team. Another positive: Crawford had a fine week despite going 1-1-0, improving both his save percentage and goals-allowed average.

On to the updated Central Division standings:

St. Louis: 5-1-0, 10 points, 5 regulation win, 21 goals, scored, 14 goals allowed

Dallas: 4-1-0, 8 points, 4 regulation win, 19 goals scored, 13 goals allowed

Nashville: 4-1-0, 8 points, 3 regulation wins, 13 goals scored, 9 goal allowed

Winnipeg: 4-2-0, 8 points, 4 regulation wins, 20 goals scored, 13 goals allowed

Minnesota: 3-1-1, 7 points, 3 regulation wins, 14 goals scored, 15 goals allowed

Chicago: 3-3-0, 6 points, 3 regulation wins, 14 goals scored, 14 goals allowed

Colorado: 2-3-0, 4 points, 2 regulation win, 16 goals scored, 16 goals allowed

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The Blues and Stars spent the previous week not losing any games, while the Predators hung right along with them. After a 2-0-0 start, the Wild went 1-1-1 last week, and the Avalanche are performing about on par for their personal course. The Blackhawks will need to take advantage of their few upcoming games in order to not see too big of a gap between themselves and the current top teams.

A scary point from early in the season: The Blackhawks and Avalanche lead the Central in games played at home with three apiece. Winnipeg, Dallas and Nashville have all played two, while St. Louis and Minnesota have each graced (I use that word very loosely with the Blues) their home ice just once.

Now that we’re up to date on the Blackhawks’ stats and their division competitors, let’s take a closer look at their two foes for this week.

Next: A Glance At Florida And Tampa Bay

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