Toews gets Blackhawks home in good shape

It’s always team first with Jonathan Toews.

Forget the fact that Toews saved the Blackhawks’ circus road trip with his performances in wins at Anaheim and Los Angeles.

The captain was talking team following the 2-1 victory at the Staples Center on Saturday that enabled the Hawks to come home from the trip .500 at 3-3.

“We learned a lot,” Toews said. “We know how good we can be if we go out there and work, but without that work ethic and sticking with the game plan and how we’ve got to play, there’s not much there.”

But here’s something we didn’t need to learn on the road trip: Toews is truly something special.

He finished the trip with 4 goals and 6 assists and was plus-2. He had 5 points in Friday’s win at Anaheim, 4 of them in the third period when the Hawks roared from behind to win 6-5.

Toews then scored the winning goal at Los Angeles late in the second period to snap a 1-1 tie.

Toews has 13 goals to rank tied for third in the NHL. His 25 points rank sixth, and he is first in the league at winning faceoffs at 61.5 percent.

“Every game he does things that show the kind of character he has and the leadership that he provides,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said following the win in Anaheim.

Led by Toews, the Hawks picked themselves off the floor following disastrous losses at Calgary (5-2) and Edmonton (9-2) to come home still in first place in the Central Division.

Quenneville thought last Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at San Jose was the turning point on the trip from a team perspective after what happened in Alberta.

“That game got us back on track,” Quenneville said. “We lost 1-0, but we played probably our best road game. We got rewarded the next two nights.”

The game in San Jose came after the Hawks spent two days relaxing in Las Vegas, a side trip Quenneville admitted he considered canceling after the 7-goal loss in Edmonton.

“We went into Vegas on the worst possible note, but it turned out maybe to be productive with guys getting together and focusing on the rest of the trip,” Quenneville said.

The play of Toews wasn’t the only highlight of the trip.

Patrick Sharp had 5 goals in the six games and was plus-2.

Duncan Keith had 6 assists and shook off his rough games in Calgary and Edmonton with three strong efforts.

Viktor Stalberg had a goal and 4 assists.

Marcus Kruger had 3 assists and was a spark plug on the power play.

And Corey Crawford picked up his play in the final three games. He was at his best in the loss at San Jose and in Saturday’s win at Los Angeles.

“I haven’t been getting the results I wanted,” Crawford said. “I just felt like I’ve been giving up a lot of goals, but maybe I was just letting it get to me.”

The Hawks now have a most favorable schedule awaiting them with 10 of the next 14 games at the United Center, where they are 7-1-2.

“As soon as you think its easy, it gets worse,” Quenneville said. “Let’s get hungry at home, prioritize every game and play hard.”

Added Keith: “For some of the guys who have been around here, we’re used to this trip. Obviously it was a long road trip and we’re excited to go home now. We’re happy with the way we played the last three games, and it’s nice to finish the trip with a couple of wins and use that momentum and excitement when we get home.”