Chicago Blackhawks’ Week Ahead Heads West

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Welcome back from the All-Star break, everyone. Well … technically the break isn’t over until Tuesday, but still. The All-Star Game and accompanying Skills Competition were generally well received, a nice change of pace from last year’s contest, which was taken as an utter joke. But with all of that out of the way, we can get back to the games that matter, especially for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The break could not have come soon enough for Chicago, which followed up a 12-game win streak by losing three of its last four heading into the down time, including a nasty 5-0 loss at Carolina to wrap up the “first half.” The Blackhawks were pretty clearly gassed and needed the rest, which all but Patrick Kane received. Jonathan Toews would have been without rest as well due to the All-Star Game, but he backed out as a result of an illness that also kept him from some of the Carolina contest. Toews received a mandatory one-game ban for this, so he’ll get a little extra rest on top of that.

The Blackhawks have a three-game week to start their lightest full month of the regular season. After leading the league in games played through the first half with 53 — leaving some teams with as many as six games in hand on Chicago — the Blackhawks will play just 11 games this month, tying with October as their lightest workload in a non-April/playoff month. With the Blackhawks leading a cutthroat Central Division and every divisional foe having at least one game in hand on them, it’ll be critical they rack up every point possible this month.

Let’s get to the statistical and standings updates, then preview the Blackhawks’ week ahead.

Forwards

Artem Anisimov: 52 games, 17 goals, 10 assists, plus-5 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 81 shots

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

a-Bryan Bickell: 23 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, minus-4 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 21 shots

Phillip Danault: 20 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, minus-1 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 32 shots

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

Andrew Desjardins: 48 games, 6 goals, 1 assist, minus-8 rating, 22 penalty minutes, 65 shots

d-Ryan Garbutt: 42 games, 2 goals, 4 assists, minus-7 rating, 25 penalty minutes, 81 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: 48 games, 8 goals, 17 assists, plus-10 rating, 16 penalty minutes, 144 shots

Patrick Kane: 53 games, 30 goals, 43 assists, plus-22 rating, 24 penalty minutes, 190 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: 21 games, 2 goals, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 14 penalty minutes, 9 shots

a-Mark McNeill: 1 game, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 0 shots

Artemi Panarin: 53 games, 17 goals, 29 assists, plus-7 rating, 18 penalty minutes, 121 shots

Richard Panik: 8 games, 2 goals, 1 assist, 0 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 8 shots

Dennis Rasmussen: 26 games, 3 goals, 4 assists, plus-5 rating, 4 penalty minutes, 26 shots

Andrew Shaw: 53 games, 9 goals, 15 assists, plus-9 rating, 41 penalty minutes, 95 shots

Teuvo Teravainen: 49 games, 9 goals, 13 assists, plus-5 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 85 shots

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

Jonathan Toews: 53 games, 19 goals, 16 assists, plus-13 rating, 38 penalty minutes, 125 shots

Defensemen

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

Erik Gustafsson: 20 games, 0 goals, 8 assists, plus-10 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 24 shots

Niklas Hjalmarsson: 53 games, 2 goals, 12 assists, plus-8 rating, 24 penalty minutes, 60 shots

Duncan Keith: 43 games, 7 goals, 23 assists, plus-11 rating, 10 penalty minutes, 77 shots

Michal Rozsival: 28 games, 0 goals, 4 assists, plus-3 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 23 shots

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

Rob Scuderi: 16 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-5 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 13 shots

Brent Seabrook: 53 games, 7 goals, 24 assists, plus-7 rating, 20 penalty minutes, 105 shots

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

Trevor van Riemsdyk: 53 games, 2 goals, 4 assists, minus-7 rating, 17 penalty minutes, 52 shots

Goaltenders

Corey Crawford: 42 starts, 28 wins, 12 losses, 2 OT losses, 7 shutouts, .931 save percentage, 2.14 goals-allowed average

Scott Darling: 11 starts, 5 wins, 4 losses, 2 OT losses, 0 shutouts, .911 save percentage, 2.61 goals-allowed average

(a-demoted to Rockford; b-on long-term injured reserve; c-waived and claimed; d-traded; e-loaned)

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Things got pretty interesting in the last week-plus before the All-Star break. The Predators, who had been slumping pretty heavily, took their last four games to leapfrog Minnesota and get within a point of surprising Colorado. The Avs have gone 6-4-0 in their last 10 to take a surprise wild-card lead, paced by their strong 15-12-0 road mark. The Wild, meanwhile, are still in decent shape, as they have one game in hand on Nashville and three on Colorado.

St. Louis and Dallas are both struggling somewhat, though the Blues will get a nice boost with the return of Jaden Schwartz, who suffered a lower-body injury in a practice a few months ago. With St. Louis able to better organize its lines moving forward (don’t count on Ken Hitchcock to actually succeed in that on his first try, or five), their surprisingly inept offense should be able to kick into gear soon. The Stars, meanwhile, will visit the Blackhawks next week in a game they’ll certainly be hyped for. That’s not to mention another game between the teams … which is among the three this week we’ll take to discussing now.

Next: Glancing At Colorado, Arizona and Dallas

Jan 26, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; Colorado Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard (31) deflects a shot by San Jose Sharks defenseman Justin Braun (61) in the 2nd period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports. /

Tuesday: Chicago Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche, 8 p.m. (CSN Chicago)

This game is a little more intriguing with the Avs having vaulted into the playoff race before the All-Star break. Colorado has been one of the Blackhawks’ trouble teams in recent years, but after losing 3-0 in this season’s first matchup between the teams, the Blackhawks have taken the last two games by a combined score of 10-6.

Will we see another offensive explosion here? There’s a fair chance. The Avs don’t have any runaway points leaders, but they’re relatively balanced. Their only All-Star, Matt Duchene, boasts a team-best 42 points on a team-leading 23 goals to go along with 19 assists. Nathan MacKinnon is a point behind, while Carl Soderberg (36), Gabriel “Elbows” Landeskog (35) and Tyson Barrie (33) are all in the 30s. And while the Blackhawks were struggling offensively in their last four games before the break, the rest should be just what they need to get on track. Plus, they tallied six goals last time out against the Avs.

Colorado should score a lot, considering all five of the guys mentioned above, to go along with veterans Jarome Iginla and Erik Johnson, have more than 100 shots apiece through 52 games. Their speed combined with their willingness to shoot and crash the crease can be troublesome for many teams. It’s getting back on the other end to protect oft-embattled Semyon Varlamov that’s been the issue.

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In goal, Smith has been out for some time and will remain out for longer after having “core muscle” surgery in December. He probably hurt his abdominal muscles patting himself on the back/banging his stick on the ice too frequently. But that leaves Louis Domingue as the starter. The 23-year-old has really stepped to the plate in his first full season in Arizona, tallying a .924 save percentage and 2.31 goals-against average to generate nine wins and two shutouts. This can be a bit of a scare for the Blackhawks, as they tend to struggle against goaltenders they haven’t seen much of — although, across 56 career AHL games, you’d think some of the younger Blackhawks may know a thing or two.

The Coyotes are pretty top heavy on offense and defense, so any way you can silence the likes of Boedker, Ekman-Larsson, Domi, Duclair, Doan and Tobias Rieder will generally get you off on the right foot against this team. If the Blackhawks are able to display better puck possession than we saw through the last bits of the first half, then all they need to do is test Domingue as often as possible. Arizona may be a playoff team right now, but the Blackhawks will see tougher competition in the bottom part of their own division.

Jan 25, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya (47) defends against Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund (11) during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Flames 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Saturday: Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars, 7 p.m. (WGN, NHL Network)

My one fear with the Coyotes game Thursday is the Blackhawks get caught looking ahead to this one. They really shouldn’t, but they could. Why might they? The Stars used the Blackhawks as a measuring stick in the only other meeting between these teams, taking a 4-0 decision in Dallas on Dec. 22. Chicago would no doubt like to return the favor.

Things haven’t been so great for the Stars since that “big win” against the Blackhawks. Dallas was at 26-7-2 after that victory, 10 points clear of third-place Chicago and leading the entire league with 54 points. Since then, the Stars have won just five games in regulation while the Blackhawks started their 12-game win streak shortly afterward. As a result, we have the Blackhawks sitting three points ahead of the Stars, though the latter do have three games in hand.

There’s no secret to what has made the Stars tick this season: a potent offense. The Blackhawks helped created the Stars’ first line by offloading Patrick Sharp to Dallas before the season started. The result: The trio of Sharp, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin has 151 points, easily the most by any line in the league. If not for Patrick Kane, Benn (58 points) and Seguin (53) would be fighting over the league scoring title. But it goes deeper than that, as the Stars boast three more players with 39-40 points, two more with 21 apiece and another eight with 12-19 points. So they’re getting consistent contributions up and down the lineup.

The blue line has also improved, led by future Norris Trophy finalist John Klingberg. Guys like Alex Goligoski, Johnny Oduya, Jordie Benn and (my favorite NHL name) Jyrki Jokipakka have also fared well at times. But it’s still a work in progress, as their 133 goals allowed is middle of the road for the league.

Of course, a big part of that is what’s still holding this team back: the goaltending. Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi just aren’t getting the job done for the Stars, and they’ll pretty much blow up any of Dallas’ playoff aspirations unless Niemi pulls a 2010 display once the postseason begins. Chances are he won’t, since the defense in front of him won’t be as effective, and since he has just a .912 save percentage and 2.42 goals-allowed average. But that’s markedly better than Lehtonen at .908 and 2.82. Pick your poison, Stars.

The Blackhawks could not get the puck on Niemi nearly enough last time out to even test him, recording just 20 shots to Dallas’ 32. Goal numero uno should absolutely be to bum rush either Niemi or Lehtonen as often as possible. Goal numero dos, then, is to challenge every little play the Stars try to make when setting up an attack. With so many capable weapons, there’s no way you can hope to send Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson out against every scoring threat. If Joel Quenneville decides to up the pressure, it could force Lindy Ruff‘s team into some bad turnovers. The Stars only know how to play one tempo, and that’s up. So shove it right back at them and see how they respond.

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