Chicago Blackhawks’ Week Ahead Has Playoff Flair

It’s time for a new week of Chicago Blackhawks hockey, which means we have another weekly update. This one comes on the heels of a solid week for the Blackhawks, as they captured the maximum six points in wins against Colorado, Arizona and Dallas — all on the road. The win against the Stars was particularly strong, coming on the heels of a 4-0 loss in Dallas back in December.

Viktor Svedberg somehow managed to squeeze one game with the Blackhawks between weekly updates, so his stats managed to change without the ‘a’ going away from beside his name. Other than that, we have the usual suspects to look at this week — though some interesting stats from a few of them.

Speaking of stats, let’s get an update on those of the Blackhawks.

Forwards

Artem Anisimov: 52 games, 18 goals, 14 assists, plus-9 rating, 8 penalty minutes, 89 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: 23 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, minus-2 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 36 shots

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

Andrew Desjardins: 51 games, 6 goals, 1 assist, minus-7 rating, 22 penalty minutes, 71 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: 51 games, 10 goals, 18 assists, plus-12 rating, 20 penalty minutes, 155 shots

Patrick Kane: 56 games, 32 goals, 44 assists, plus-23 rating, 24 penalty minutes, 195 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: 24 games, 2 goals, 0 assists, minus-2 rating, 14 penalty minutes, 12 shots

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

Artemi Panarin: 56 games, 18 goals, 34 assists, plus-10 rating, 20 penalty minutes, 132 shots

Richard Panik: 11 games, 3 goals, 1 assist, plus-1 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 12 shots

Dennis Rasmussen: 29 games, 3 goals, 4 assists, plus-5 rating, 4 penalty minutes, 30 shots

Jiri Sekac: 2 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-1 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 2 shots

Andrew Shaw: 56 games, 9 goals, 16 assists, plus-10 rating, 45 penalty minutes, 102 shots

Teuvo Teravainen: 52 games, 9 goals, 13 assists, plus-4 rating, 10 penalty minutes, 92 shots

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

Jonathan Toews: 55 games, 21 goals, 17 assists, plus-17 rating, 40 penalty minutes, 131 shots

Defensemen

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

Erik Gustafsson: 23 games, 0 goals, 8 assists, plus-10 rating, 0 penalty minutes, 27 shots

Niklas Hjalmarsson: 56 games, 2 goals, 14 assists, plus-11 rating, 24 penalty minutes, 62 shots

Duncan Keith: 46 games, 7 goals, 25 assists, plus-15 rating, 12 penalty minutes, 83 shots

Michal Rozsival: 30 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, plus-4 rating, 10 penalty minutes, 26 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: 56 games, 8 goals, 25 assists, plus-8 rating, 24 penalty minutes, 115 shots

a-Viktor Svedberg: 16 games, 1 goal, 2 assists, 0 rating, 2 penalty minutes, 26 shots

Trevor van Riemsdyk: 56 games, 3 goals, 5 assists, minus-4 rating, 19 penalty minutes, 57 shots

Goaltenders

Corey Crawford: 45 starts, 31 wins, 12 losses, 2 OT losses, 7 shutouts, .931 save percentage, 2.12 goals-allowed average

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

More from Blackhawks News

Here’s a fascinating stat for the last week: Kane was credited with just five shots across three games. Of course, he still managed two goals, so the guy just keeps rolling along. But that’s nothing (last week, at least) compared to his linemates. Anisimov picked up a goal and four assists on the week, with the goal being a shorthanded strikes and three of the points coming in Dallas. Panarin did Anisimov one better, tallying a goal and five assists. And this was all while Kane had just one assist to go with his two goals. So it’s great to see those other two members of the second line surpassing their star teammate’s point total for a week.

It was a strong week for the defensemen on the offensive side as well, with van Riemsdyk, Rozsival and Seabrook tallying a goal apiece. It was Rozsival’s first goal since the Reagan Administration (or December 2014; my first descriptor was more fun), and the look on his face when it happened was priceless. I give Rozi a ton of bad publicity on Blackhawk Up, but I believe he’s a genuinely nice guy, and it’s great that he scored a goal. I just wish he was 10 years younger/faster.

And, of course, Crow continued to Crow. While the Arizona game was rough (though I only blame Crow for Shane Doan‘s wraparound strike), the goaltender put up solid showings in Central Division tilts against Colorado and Dallas. Any fears of Crow suddenly regressing after a wonky game against Arizona were put to rest when he stood tall in the face of a vicious Dallas attack for two periods. He managed to pick up three wins on the week and lower his goals-allowed average by 0.02.

On to the Central Division standings update.

Chicago: 36-16-4, 76 points, 35 regulation/overtime wins, 159 goals for, 128 goals against

Dallas: 33-15-5, 71 points, 31 regulation/overtime wins, 172 goals for, 144 goals against

St. Louis: 30-17-8, 68 points, 27 regulation/overtime wins, 135 goals for, 132 goals against

Nashville: 25-20-8, 58 points, 23 regulation/overtime wins, 138 goals for, 140 goals against

Colorado: 27-24-4, 58 points, 26 regulation/overtime wins, 149 goals for, 152 goals against

Minnesota: 23-20-9, 55 points, 23 regulation/overtime wins, 127 goals for, 128 goals against

Winnipeg: 23-26-3, 49 points, 23 regulation/overtime wins, 136 goals for, 152 goals against

More from Blackhawk Up

We’re starting to see a bit of a gap form between the division’s top three teams and the rest of the pack, with St. Louis getting warm and three of the four teams below it struggling. The Blues have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10, an improvement from how things were going before the break. Meanwhile, Colorado (5-4-1), Minnesota (1-8-1) and Winnipeg (4-6-0) have all hit the skids, with the Wild an especially surprising case. Devan Dubnyk hasn’t been nearly as good as he was last season, but he hasn’t been the sole reason for their struggles. Instead, the offense and injuries (most recently, it was announced defenseman Jonas Brodin will miss time with a broken foot) have Mike Yeo back on the hot seat. Sounds familiar.

The Predators are the exception in that group, as they had won four straight heading into the All-Star break and are matching the Blues at 6-3-1 over their last 10. Oddly, Pekka Rinne is holding this team back, mired in the worst season of his NHL career. Then there’s the Stars and the Blackhawks, with the latter chugging right along (7-3-0 in last 10) and the former just chugging (4-5-1 in last 10). You would assume Dallas isn’t panicked after a shellacking at the hands of Chicago on Saturday, but I’d love to see how the Stars fandom at large is reacting. (My guess: poorly.)

The Blackhawks have a chance to extend their win streak to as many as six games this week. Let’s take a look at how they could do that.

Next: Glance At San Jose, Dallas And Anaheim

More from Blackhawk Up

Schedule