Chicago Blackhawks on a hot streak
Before this season began, Jonathan Toews was adamant that the Blackhawks needed to get off to a good start.
The Hawks' captain knew that a team breaking in six rookies could ill afford to be hovering around .500 come mid-Norvember with the annual circus trip looming.
Despite plenty of uneven play and plenty of games in which the Hawks have been completely outplayed, the team is sitting pretty at 9-3-1 and in first place in the Central Division.
They are also riding a six-game winning streak heading into Wednesday's game at St. Louis. Here's a closer look at the numbers during this impressive run:
• The Hawks plugged the leaks in their penalty kill, allowing just 2 power-play goals on their opponents' last 20 chances.
• The Hawks' power play went a respectable 6-for-28.
• Jonathan Toews, after registering just 2 assists in the first six games, has posted 4 goals and 5 assists during the streak.
• Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin also have 3 goals and 5 assists during the streak.
• Marian Hossa has 5 goals.
• Artem Anisimov has 4 goals and 4 assists.
Now, all of those numbers are just great, but here are two other huge reasons for this run:
• Corey Crawford's save percentage is .970 and he allowed just 5 goals in five games. (Scott Darling got the other win).
• The Hawks' opponents haven't exactly been world beaters, with the 6 victories coming against New Jersey (5-3-3), Los Angeles (6-6-0), Calgary (5-8-1), Colorado (5-6-0) and Dallas (4-5-3) twice.
Coach Joel Quenneville's team is about to take a serious step up in class in the next six days with games against the Blues (7-4-2), Capitals (8-2-1) and Canadiens (10-1-1).
Then, after playing Montreal on Sunday, the Hawks will embark on a seven-game road trip that begins in Winnipeg on Nov. 15 and ends in Los Angeles on Nov. 26.
"I know we've had a good schedule here," Quenneville said after the Hawks' 4-3 overtime win over Dallas on Sunday improved the Hawks to 7-1-1 at the United Center. "Favorable home ice. ... Certainly we're happy with where we're at, knowing we've got some tough teams in this month and the road games after that. It doesn't get any easier."
Slap shots:
The NHL on Monday credited Jonathan Toews with the Hawks' first goal against Dallas on Saturday. It originally was given to Richard Panik. … Corey Crawford was named the NHL's second star of the week for posting a 3-0-0 record and .971 save percentage. Crawford's save percentage is now .936, good for seventh best in the league going into Monday's games. … The Hawks came to terms with Alex Debrincat on Monday on a three-year contract. Debrincat was chosen in the second round (39th overall) of the 2016 draft. He currently leads the OHL with 17 goals in 14 games for the Erie Otters.