Despite 4-1-1 circus trip, Hawks can't afford to rest

You would think when a team takes 9 of 12 points on a six-game road trip like the Blackhawks just did, it might create some breathing room in the standings.

Not in the NHL's Western Conference.

Despite going 4-1-1 on their circus trip, the Hawks returned home Sunday only 4 points up on Nashville in the Central Division.

Losses at Anaheim and Los Angeles dropped the Hawks into a tie for second place in the conference with a Calgary team they smoked 7-1 to start the trip.

So far there has been no significant separation in the West as the season has moved past Thanksgiving and heads into December.

"It'll always be like that," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It's going to be very competitive. Every team is in the race, all 15 teams right now. It'll probably get sorted out in game 82."

That means the Hawks can't afford to take their foot off the gas. They have an opportunity this week to widen their hold on first place in the Central with home games against Columbus on Tuesday and Nashville on Friday.

The Hawks play eight of the next 10 games at the United Center, where they own the league's best home record at 10-2 thanks to an active seven-game winning streak.

"We've still got a lot of work to do here because we want to be the best team in the Western Conference," defenseman Brian Campbell said.

The 3-0 loss to the Ducks on Friday and Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Kings in a shootout humbled he Hawks after their impressive 7-2 victory at San Jose, which was the highlight of the road trip.

A 4-1-1 trip is very good, but the Hawks felt they didn't play well at Anaheim and probably left a point on the table in Los Angeles.

"You can say it was a good road trip, but we're definitely not thinking about that now," captain Jonathan Toews said. "We're not going to say we're satisfied. We're kind of disappointed about not coming out with 2 points (Saturday)."

This was the Hawks' longest road trip to this point, and they proved a couple of things to themselves, perhaps most important that they can beat any team in any building in the league.

"We proved that we can win on the road again this year and it's a big step for us," Toews said. "When you get quite a few points on a road trip like we did, it gives you confidence going down the road that you don't have to keep coming from behind to try and stay up there in the standings.

"We feel we're in a good spot right now, but we know there's still a lot of room for improvement. Coming off this, I think we can be confident about going back in our own building this week and hopefully getting that energy back that our fans give us."

Campbell said the Hawks exceeded their own expectations on the six-game trip.

"Joel gave us a high goal to shoot for and we surpassed it," Campbell said.

And the goal was?

"A little bit better than .500," Campbell said.

"Overall, I just think there's nothing to be excited about," Quenneville said. "We should be excited about getting better.

"We're not satisfied where we're at, and there's certainly areas we can improve, but we like our options."