Blackhawks’ November schedule is full of tests
After the first month of the season, we still don’t know everything we will about the Blackhawks.
We can expect to know a lot more by the end of November, a month that promises to be one of the most challenging of the season.
The Hawks play 10 of 14 games on the road this month starting with a two-game swing through Florida. Lurking ahead, of course, is the six-game circus trip to Western Canada and California in two weeks.
“We’ve had a nice schedule here at home, but if you look at our month of November, our travel and some of the buildings we’re going into, we have some tough tests,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
The Hawks went 7-2-2 in October, capping the month with Monday’s gutty 5-4 win over Nashville in overtime. They are 5-0-2 at the United Center, where they have found a way to get points by digging down deep late in games.
“We’ve got little more swagger this year,” Viktor Stalberg said. “We feel like we’re going get out there and get that goal instead of sitting back like last year when we found ways to give up those late goals.”
“It hasn’t been perfect,” Jonathan Toews said of the Hawks’ start. “We’ve had some games already where we haven’t played our best hockey but found ways to win. Sometimes that’s what it’s all about. We know we can do that now with some of the tight games we’ve had.”
The power play remains a problem, although there was a noticeable improvement the last two games even though it went 0-for-12.
There are also defensive lapses in games that need to be ironed out.
“It’s been OK,” Quenneville said of his team’s start. “We haven’t got to the level we have to be, but there are some good signs. We’re more consistent in our team game, but there still is room for all areas of our game to be better. I still think there’s a higher level of pace we could be at.”
The power play has dropped to 29th out of 30 in the NHL rankings after Monday’s 0-for-7 performance, but the Hawks really did have some good chances against the Predators and goalie Pekka Rinne.
“It’s only a matter of time before we get something,” Patrick Kane said.
“It’s been frustrating,” Quenneville said. “The number of chances we had on the power play (Monday), something’s got to give. We were generating, which is what we’re looking for, but we need production. I think that’s what we measure and that’s what we’re looking to attain.”
Around the NHL the month of November is viewed as a time when teams begin to separate themselves in the standings, which is what the Hawks are looking to accomplish.
“You want to get off to a good start, get some numbers, get things going in the right direction,” Toews said. “We want to keep playing well and not waste time. We want to play the way we can.
“I think that adjustment period is over and it’s time to play our best hockey. We have great chemistry in different lines, everyone knows their roles. Whether we’re playing at home or on the road, we have a lot of important games coming up.”