Chicago Blackhawks’ Week Ahead Prepares For The Holidays

Sorry I’m a day late on this week’s Chicago Blackhawks update and look ahead, but today I’ve got the usual stuff for all you stat junkies and fans who want a look at what’s next for the Blackhawks.

What’s next for the Blackhawks is the holiday break … after one more game today. And it’s a doozy. This will only be a two-game week as a result of the NHL’s mandatory time off for the holidays, so the Blackhawks can see a few of their opponents’ games in hand disappear.

The Blackhawks have already participated in 35 games this season. For a point of comparison, the Minnesota Wild played in their 32nd game Monday night. So while the Blackhawks saw some success last week — taking six of eight points — they’ll have to take a seat a few nights while some of their Central Division foes attempt to catch up.

Of course, the Blackhawks can’t worry about that right now — they have to worry about themselves. And right now, they’re working on a three-game win streak and a 7-2-1 mark in their last 10 games. We’ll see what that means for the Central standings a little later, but the Blackhawks bulked up a bit in the weaker portion of their schedule. Still, things are far from perfect in Chicago, and the Blackhawks need all the points they can get.

Let’s first update the Blackhawks’ statistics from the previous four games.

Forwards

Artem Anisimov: 35 games, 12 goals, 7 assists, plus-5 rating, 6 penalty minutes, 51 shots

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

Bryan Bickell: 16 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, minus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 18 shots

a-Marko Dano: 13 games, 1 goal, 1 assist, 0 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 15 shots

Andrew Desjardins: 30 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, minus-8 rating, 11 penalty minutes, 35 shots

Ryan Garbutt: 30 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, minus-6 rating, 25 penalty minutes, 60 shots

a-Ryan Hartman: 3 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, minus-1 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 3 shots

a-Vincent Hinostroza: 4 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 4 shots

Marian Hossa: 31 games, 5 goals, 11 assists, plus-2 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 99 shots

Patrick Kane: 35 games, 21 goals, 29 assists, plus-15 rating, 14 penalty minutes, 122 shots

a-Tanner Kero: 17 games, 1 goal, 2 assists, minus-2 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 26 shots

b-Marcus Kruger: 33 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, minus-5 rating, 20 penalty minutes, 39 shots

Brandon Mashinter: 15 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 14 penalty minutes, 5 shots

Artemi Panarin: 35 games, 10 goals, 21 assists, plus-4 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 81 shots

Dennis Rasmussen: 8 games, 3 goals, 1 assist, plus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 13 shots

Andrew Shaw: 35 games, 6 goals, 7 assists, plus-3 rating, 29 penalty minutes, 57 shots

Teuvo Teravainen: 31 games, 8 goals, 8 assists, plus-4 rating, 6 penalty minutes, 53 shots

c-Viktor Tikhonov: 11 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-4 rating, 6 penalty minutes, 11 shots

Jonathan Toews: 35 games, 11 goals, 10 assists, plus-7 rating, 28 penalty minutes, 76 shots

Defensemen

d-Trevor Daley: 29 games, 0 goals, 6 assists, plus-1 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 43 shots

a-Erik Gustafsson: 6 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, plus-5 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 8 shots

Niklas Hjalmarsson: 35 games, 1 goal, 9 assists, plus-4 rating, 12 penalty minutes, 48 shots

Duncan Keith: 25 games, 5 goals, 13 assists, plus-4 rating, 4 penalty minutes, 41 shots

Michal Rozsival: 17 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, minus-4 rating, 4 penalty minutes, 16 shots

David Rundblad: 9 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, minus-2 rating, 6 penalty minutes, 13 shots

Rob Scuderi: 4 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 3 shots

Brent Seabrook: 35 games, 5 goals, 16 assists, plus-4 rating, 10 penalty minutes, 78 shots

a-Viktor Svedberg: 15 games, 1 goal, 1 assist, minus-1 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 23 shots

Trevor van Riemsdyk: 35 games, 2 goals, 2 assists, minus-3 rating, 11 penalty minutes, 30 shots

Goaltenders

Corey Crawford: 28 starts, 18 wins, 8 losses, 2 OT losses, 5 shutouts, .927 save percentage, 2.15 goals-allowed average

Scott Darling: 8 starts, 2 wins, 3 losses, 2 OT losses, 0 shutouts, .908 save percentage, 2.78 goals-allowed average

(a-in AHL at time of post; b-out long-term with injury; c-waived; d-traded)

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Kane is up to a stunning 50 points, leading the league in that category and assists while sitting a goal behind Dallas’ Jamie Benn for that category lead. It’s been the Kane show on offense for some time, and while the Blackhawks have seen some production elsewhere in the lineup of late, he’s still key to a large portion of the team’s output.

Rasmussen is already up to three goals in just a handful of games, while Panarin got to 10 goals for this NHL rookie campaign. Teuvo also saw a little push as a result of sitting more comfortably on the top line, though that is now damaged with Hossa sidelined due to injury.

Scuderi made his Blackhawks debut and didn’t do much in the way of major stats. Rozsival earned his first point of the season, while Keith picked up a few helpers as well.

But the big takeaway for the second consecutive week is Crawford being a machine in goal. He added another shutout and improved on his save percentage and goals-against average. Crow is tops in the league in whitewashes, second in wins and seventh in save percentage. For a guy that takes a ton of heat from a portion of the Blackhawks fan base, those are some super impressive stats. And those fans can’t throw it behind the “Blackhawks have great defense” defense, because … let’s face it, they don’t right now.

On to the updated Central Division standings.

Dallas: 25-7-2, 52 points, 24 regulation/overtime wins, 120 goals for, 88 goals against

Chicago: 20-11-4, 44 points, 19 regulation/overtime wins, 96 goals for, 83 goals against

St. Louis: 20-11-4, 44 points, 19 regulation/overtime wins, 90 goals for, 85 goals against

Minnesota: 17-9-6, 40 points, 17 regulation/overtime wins, 89 goals for, 79 goals against

Nashville: 17-11-6, 40 points, 15 regulation/overtime wins, 90 goals for, 86 goals against

Colorado: 17-17-1, 35 points, 17 regulation/overtime wins, 99 goals for, 97 goals against

Winnipeg: 15-16-2, 32 points, 15 regulation/overtime wins, 91 goals for, 100 goals against

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The Stars blew aside the Wild last night, scoring another six goals in their 25th win of the season. The Blues faltered against Philadelphia despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead Monday, ceding sole control of second place in the division. The Predators thumped the now-slumping Canadiens, the Avalanche managed to give up seven goals to lowly Toronto and the Jets continued to fall apart with a loss at Edmonton. So only the Blackhawks had the night off in the Central on Monday.

The division is still tough as they come, especially considering the Pacific probably won’t be putting more than the required three teams in the postseason (at this rate). Any victories the Blackhawks can acquire within the division are crucial.

Speaking of, let’s take a look at the Blackhawks’ two contests for this week.

Next: A Glance At Dallas And Carolina

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Schedule