Defensively, Blackhawks still a work in progress
They are numbers that normally don't go hand in hand.
The Blackhawks have allowed 74 goals in 24 games, sixth most in the NHL through the weekend, yet they returned from their circus road trip in first place in the Western Conference standings.
The defensive side of the puck remains one area where the Hawks feel they still need to show improvement if they are to remain one of hockey's elite clubs.
The Hawks have scored 79 goals, more than anyone in the West and second most in the league, but it's a consistent defensive effort that still is escaping them on a nightly basis.
Coach Joel Quenneville saw an improvement in team defense over the final three stops on the road trip, particularly in the 1-0 loss at San Jose and in Saturday's 2-1 win at Los Angeles.
Those games followed what was surely the low point of the season so far — the 9-2 embarrassment at Edmonton that came the night after a 5-2 loss in Calgary.
“I think the goals that we give up is still an area we have to get better at,” Quenneville said Monday. “They still flare up occasionally.
“I thought we played a good game at Anaheim (a 6-5 win Friday), but some of those goals were defendable. We've talked about this more than once, these type of goals, open-side goals.
“We should be adapting to it, where we should be a little more predictable, or at least dependable. It has to be etched in stone that we're going to get that job done, and when we get better in that area it's going to help our whole team game defensively.”
It's evident well past a quarter of the way into the season that scoring goals is not going to be a problem for these Hawks.
Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp each have 22 points or more, which made the Hawks the only team in the NHL with four players with 20 or more points going into Monday's games.
It's defensively that likely will define the Hawks in the end.
“We've obviously heard Joel say offensive production is not the problem in our locker room,” Sharp said. “We've got plenty of goals. It's keeping the puck out of our net that's going to keep us successful.
“That last week in California was a big week for us. I thought we took a big step in the right direction, and hopefully we can build off that.
“We'd like to limit the goals against because we have scoring throughout our lineup, and plus our power play hasn't clicked like we hoped it would. When we play that check-first, defense-first team game, we're usually successful.”
Quenneville has no issues with his goaltending despite save percentages of .902 for Corey Crawford and just .874 for Ray Emery.
Crawford scuffled on the road trip in spots but was at his best in the last week and was the difference in the win over the Kings.
“He gives us a chance every time he's in the net,” Quenneville said. “Crow's been fine. I thought he had a real good start and he's been playing here well. You look 24 games into the season and our goaltending, we've been very pleased with it.”