Blackhawks' better-than-expected start could be for real

The Chicago Blackhawks are 2-2-1 heading into Friday night’s tilt against the Vancouver Canucks. The start isn’t precisely earth-shattering, but it’s much better than expected. Some pundits would have had the Hawks opening the season 0-5 or somewhere around there.

But the fact of the matter is that the Blackhawks’ rebuild, painful as it is, could finally be yielding the sort of fruit fans have been anxious to see. The club looks like its young talent is cementing itself in the league, and could be establishing the foundations for a successful season, well, as far as rebuilding teams go.

Now, the season is early. So, there’s plenty of time for the wheels to fall off. But just judging by the eye test, there’s no reason to believe that this season could be THAT bad. While I’m not advocating that the Blackhawks will make the playoffs, again, there’s reason to be optimistic.

Looking deeper, we can see a positive goal differential. The Blackhawks are +4, mainly on the heels of their last 8-4 win over the St. Louis Blues. The Hawks are top ten in goals per game with 3.60. Better yet, the Hawks are second in the league in shooting percentage with 16.7%.

The power play isn’t bad at 18.8%, finding the back of the net three times, despite the team putting up a pedestrian 108 total shots on goal. The relatively low number of shots on goal could be the reason why the Blackhawks haven’t won more games.

If the Blackhawks were top 10 in shots on goal with, say, 140, at a 16.7%, that would come out to 23.38 goals or 4.67 goals per game. So, we’re talking about a team that would be leading the league in scoring.

In short, the Blackhawks’ strong start is fueled by solid scoring. More shots on goal and consistent defense could bring the Blackhawks up from the middle of the pack to a higher spot in the NHL standings.

Blackhawks’ defense not nearly as bad as most think

Surprisingly, the Blackhawks' defense isn’t nearly as bad as most might think. The Blackhawks are 10th in the league with 2.80 goals-against-average. They’ve given up 14 goals, which puts them in the middle of the pack, but they have surrendered the fourth-highest number of shots per game in the league.

So, that’s where room for improvement could lie. The Hawks are giving up way too many shots compared to the number of shots their firing. If you look at the opening 3-2 loss against the Florida Panthers, the Hawks were outshot 37-19. Even so, the game was still close down to the wire.

Against the Bruins, again, the shots were 33-24. The outcome was a 4-3 OT loss. The game was close enough to go to overtime, where the Bruns got the extra point.

In the Blackhawks’ second regulation loss this season, they were outshot 28-22 by the Montreal Canadiens. Against the Mammoth, the shots were 22-14 in favor of Utah. It wasn’t until the St. Louis game that the Blackhawks finally outshot their opponent.

As you can see, the Hawks must cut down on the number of shots they give up, and, well, shoot more. We’ve seen how good things have happened for the Blackhawks when they put the puck on net.

As long as they continue to grow into their defensive game, the shots against should continue to come down. At that point, we may see a Chicago team that emerges as a playoff contender sooner rather than later.