Opponents all but powerless against Blackhawks
Another night, another 0-fer for an opponent on the power play as the Blackhawks' penalty kill just keeps rolling along at an unheard of rate.
After stifling Toronto twice on the man advantage in Sunday's 4-0 victory, the Hawks are hovering around a 92 percent success rate with their penalty-kill units.
"It's been outstanding," coach Joel Quenneville said. "Commend the guys - blocking shots, winning faceoffs, a good awareness to what the opponents are up to against some good power plays recently. Staying out of the box makes it easier on the group.
"Everyone that's in that group, they're proud of that stat … and they're trying to continue on."
Glad to be back:
After being held out as a precaution earlier this week for what may have been concern over the spread of mumps throughout the league, defenseman Duncan Keith is just glad to be back in the lineup.
"I feel good," said Keith, who had an assist Sunday against Toronto. "It was kind of frustrating having to sit out for something like that, but obviously you want to be careful.
"But I'm glad it was only one game, and we've moved on."
By the numbers:
Per Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Hawks scored a goal at 19:59 of any period, as Kris Versteeg did in the first period Sunday, was Feb. 21, 2011, at St. Louis (Marian Hossa at 19:59 in the third period). … Patrick Kane extended his points streak (4 goals, 6 assists) to six games with his second 3-point outing in the last three games. … The Blackhawks are 3-3-1 in the first game of a back-to-back series and 5-2-0 in the second game this season.
Slowdown in paw tossing:
Even though Jonathan Toews briefly dropped the gloves the other night, fighting majors in the NHL has reached a low not seen in decades, according to James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail.
Entering this week, as Mirtle reports, there had been only 0.35 fights per game, the lowest pace since the 1968-69 season.
He said it:
"It's not every day that you have to go through something like that, where you lose a close friend and you have to try and play a hockey game on that same day. It wasn't easy."
- Duncan Keith following Sunday's win over Toronto, which was overshadowed by the passing of Clint Reif.
Today's faceoff
Winnipeg Jets at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.
TV: Comcast SportsNet Plus
Radio: WGN 720-AM
The skinny: In the final game before the Christmas break, the Blackhawks welcome a Winnipeg team that suddenly trails them by only 7 points. The Jets are a weird 5-1-4 in their last 10 games. Some former Hawks are representing well for Winnipeg: Andrew Ladd is tied for the team lead in points with 23, while Dustin Byfuglien (18) and Michael Frolik (17) are not too far behind.
Next: Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center, 8 p.m. Saturday
- Mike Spellman