Blackhawks just find a way to win
They are 19th in the NHL defensively, 27th in penalty killing, their No. 1 goaltender is in the midst of a concerning slump, and the third and fourth lines have stopped scoring.
Yet the Blackhawks have reached the 30-game mark with the second-best record in the league at 18-8-4, one of only two teams with 40 points or more.
What the Hawks have done is find ways to win, largely because of the league’s fourth-best offense led by forwards Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane and defensemen Duncan Keith and Nick Leddy.
“The resiliency to find a way is what really good teams do,” Andrew Brunette said.
What happened Sunday was a prime example of how it has gone for the Hawks. They trailed the San Jose Sharks for most of the game, getting badly outplayed for the first two periods, but pulled out a 3-2 victory in overtime.
“In our good moments we’re getting close to being that team and having that identity that we want to have,” Toews said. “I’m never going to say we’re there and we’re good enough because we always want to improve and be working on something.
“The good news is even when we don’t play a solid 60 minutes or we don’t start well like the way we did (Sunday), we can always find a way to win.
“There have been a couple ugly games lately, going to a shootout or the overtime period, but it doesn’t matter to us. We want to find a way to win, and we have confidence we can pull it out.”
There’s obvious danger in how the Hawks are getting it done, particularly from a defensive standpoint. Only goalie Ray Emery’s standout play kept them in the game against San Jose, just as Corey Crawford has done on more than one occasion despite his recent struggles.
The Hawks’ team defensive game still needs work, and there’s no doubt general manager Stan Bowman wants to add another defenseman to the mix at some point before the Feb. 28 trade deadline.
“We’ve gotten points,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’ve had some good stretches this year and we’ve had some stretches that were ugly, but for the most part recently we’re trending in the right direction.
“Our play has been better. Our team game has been more consistent.”
No team in the NHL has four players playing better offensively that Toews, Sharp, Hossa and Kane, all of whom rank in the top 14 in the league in scoring.
Toews has 17 goals and 32 points, Sharp 16 goals and 31 points. Hossa has 19 assists and 31 points, and Kane 23 assists and 31 points.
“We know that one night it’s going to be one or the other or maybe all of us to be relied on,” Toews said. “That’s our role, to go out there and make things happen.
“You always want to have a couple good dangerous lines. Lately it’s been a handful of guys scoring the goals.”
Among the Hawks who have been quiet lately offensively are Dave Bolland, Michael Frolik, Viktor Stalberg and Bryan Bickell.
Frolik has only 4 goals (2 of them empty-netters with the goalie pulled), and Bickell 3. Stalberg has been stuck on 5 goals despite playing regularly on the first line with Toews.
Bickell has been a healthy scratch for five straight games but likely gets back in the lineup Wednesday at Minnesota with Ben Smith going back to Rockford on Monday.
Hossa probably summed up the first 30 games the best:
“We know we haven’t played the way we would have liked to, but we’re winning hockey games.”