Blackhawks on the verge of a franchise scoring milestone

Think back to early October for a minute.

What were your expectations for the Chicago Blackhawks at that point, and your worries?

• That too many rookies were being thrown into the fire?

• That Marian Hossa would never again be a scoring machine?

• That it would be impossible to replace Andrew Shaw?

If you were like many fans, you were probably pounding Joel Quenneville's infamous Panic Button over and over and over again.

Six months later, those concerns seem to be light years away, especially during a 50-win campaign in which the Hawks claimed the top seed in the Western Conference. Perhaps the most remarkable development this season has been a lineup that sports such incredible balance that it is on the verge of becoming just the fifth Hawks team ever — and the first in 27 years — to feature seven 20-goal scorers.

For it to happen, Ryan Hartman must score in the regular-season finale at Los Angeles on Saturday.

“Having four lines with all lines that can score is important for our team,” coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday. “Over the last few years, this is probably the most consistent, across-the-board scoring that we've had.”

The Hawks lost 4-0 at Anaheim on Thursday. Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were given the night off, and Niklas Hjalmarsson remained in Chicago because his wife was due to give birth to their second child.

Corey Crawford started in net and made 22 saves.

Since Quenneville took over as coach, the most 20-goal scorers the Hawks have had is six in 2009-10. That season, Patrick Kane led the way with 30 and was followed by Jonathan Toews (25), Patrick Sharp (25), Marian Hossa (24), Troy Brouwer (22) and Kris Versteeg (20).

This season, it's certainly no surprise that Kane, Toews, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov eclipsed 20 goals, but few would have predicted such prolific seasons out of Hossa (26), Richard Panik (22) and Hartman (19).

“A guy like Hartsy, I don't know if we thought he'd be a 20-goal scorer right off the bat here, but he's certainly had a nice year,” Quenneville said. “Scored some big goals for us, knows where the net is, gives us some grit and intensity in that area as well.

“We'll see how that plays out. We'll do our best and hopefully he can achieve a nice milestone.”

Hossa scored 11 goals in the first 19 games and used that hot start as a springboard to a sensational bounce-back season. Panik, meanwhile, scored six times in the first six games then all but disappeared until Feb. 8 when he scored in a 4-3 win over the Wild. Since then, he has 10 goals in 25 games, all the while providing great stability on the top line with Toews.

“With Pans, I mean give him some credit,” Quenneville told us in early March. “He obviously had a lot of ability. He did a lot of good things in his career. Consistency — that was his problem. …

“But all of a sudden you see a skill set that's pretty remarkable. Very high-end. Very athletic. Strong, can hit, can shoot, not afraid to make plays.”

If this team ends up with seven 20-goal scorers, it will have by far the fewest total goals among the history-making teams. The leading squad in that regard was the 1968-69 team in which Bobby Hull (58), Stan Mikita (30) and five others combined for 223 goals.

Going into Thursday's game, this Hawks team has just 173 goals among the seven players, but considering the era they are playing in, it has to rank as one of the more impressive accomplishments in franchise history.

Having so many guys who can score also bodes well for the upcoming playoff season. Combine these lethal weapons with a shutdown defensive corps and a two-time Cup-winning goalie, and it's easy to see why the Hawks are the odds-on favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Final out of the Western Conference.