Blackhawks plan to make the most of five-day break
While it's out of the ordinary for a team to have five days off in the middle of a normal NHL season, the Blackhawks plan to take advantage of the fact they don't play again until Saturday at Detroit.
In addition to this quirk in the schedule, the Hawks will play just three games when they return before getting another six days off because of the all-star break.
This break comes with the Hawks on a bit of a roll with 4 wins in their last five games (4-0-1), grabbing 9 out of a potential 10 points.
Perhaps it would be best for the Hawks to keep playing, but the schedule says otherwise.
“You can look both ways and be optimistic about both or even negative, but we have five days off and that's it, period,” goalie Marty Turco said. “It's nothing that we can change. Certainly to use it to the best of our advantage is important and I'm sure the coaches will with game planning and practice.
“It certainly helps to get 3 points this weekend and we look forward to a huge challenge next weekend.”
The Hawks have one of their toughest back-to-backs of the season coming up with the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena and the Flyers at the United Center on Sunday morning in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville gave his team Monday off with another day away from the rink scheduled for Wednesday.
“We have a nice little break this week and hopefully we'll come back rested,” Jonathan Toews said. “I think we're really going to use it to our advantage. We'll have a couple good practices this week and rest up. Everyone is healthy and we want that to stay that way.
“I think we'll be responsible and make sure we come back fine and playing the same way.”
Being consistent remains the Hawks' biggest issue well past the season's halfway point. They blew a 2-0 third period lead in Saturday's shootout loss at Nashville then had to rally late after a poor start Sunday to beat the Predators 6-3 back home.
The Hawks have 54 points, good for sixth place in the Western Conference, but with 12 losses after being tied in the third period they've left enough points on the table to be right there with Vancouver and Detroit atop the West.
“We know when we work hard and we play tough and we play hard things will fall into place for us,” Toews said. “It's when we don't show up and don't compete our hardest is when we start making mistakes we shouldn't.”
The Hawks still have played more games than all but three teams in the West, but that will change this week with the five off days.
“We can really work at getting ourselves a little bit of comfort going into the last 20 or so games of the season,” Toews said. “It's all in our control.
“We should have lots of energy come next weekend. We've been playing some good hockey, but we've really got to bear down and make sure we realize every single point is important.”