Key points on line this weekend for Hawks
With five off days staring them in the face next week, the Blackhawks know the best way to enjoy them would be to have a big weekend.
And this is a big weekend with a home-and-home set against the pesky Nashville Predators starting Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.
The Hawks trail the Predators by 1 point in a Western Conference playoff race that gets crazier each day.
“It could be like an 8-point swing at the end of it,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
“These are very meaningful games, important in a lot of ways. You can look at it either way: the opponent, the meaning and the value of division games and conference games, where we sit in the standings.”
The Hawks have won three games in a row and would like to think they are about to make their push back up to the top of the conference.
“We want to have two big games, but right now we're more concerned with Saturday, and Sunday will come when it comes,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “These are 4 big points on the line.”
The unexpected is beginning to creep into the West playoff race with San Jose and Los Angeles in the midst of bad stretches.
The Sharks have dropped six games in a row, including back-to-back home losses to Edmonton and Toronto. Meanwhile, the Kings have lost seven of eight and are 1-6 on a 10-game homestand.
The Kings could be are seriously damaging their playoff hopes with a 10-game road trip ahead for them because of the Grammys and NBA All-Star game booked into Staples Center.
“It's unpredictable,” Quenneville said. “But it's probably going to be changing like that from here on out. Everybody has had some stretches where they've been running five or six off and then lose five in a row.
“The unpredictability, I don't foresee changing with the likelihood off of the race going down to the very end with the same number of teams. Hopefully we can enhance the position we're in today.”
If the Hawks are going to finish near the top of the pack in the West they will need to be a very good road team from here on out. They have played fewer road games (19) than any team in the NHL.
“We certainly can't do anything about all the stuff we left on the table (at home) earlier on in the year,” Quenneville said. “Going forward we're definitely going to have to be an effective team on the road.
“We've played OK on the road this year and last year as well. I just think we want to get consistency in our game and no matter how we play or where we play, we're going to be the same type of team.”
Ÿ Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson will play Saturday despite missing the last two days of practice after blocking a shot in a bad spot against Colorado on Wednesday.
Ÿ Goalie Corey Crawford, who starts in Nashville, said Friday he would not let himself think about possibly winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
“No way. No chance,” Crawford said.