Blackhawks have Red Wings in their sights
The Blackhawks are starting to believe.
The Hawks come out of the Christmas break with a seven-game winning streak that has them sitting at 18-6-7 and fourth in the Western Conference. They think they can catch the Red Wings in the Central Division.
"It's 30 games into the season now," defenseman James Wisniewski said. "It's not like it's the first eight games and we started off 6-1-1. It's 30 games, and if you look at some of our losses - like the 5 we have in shootouts - we could be ahead of Detroit right now.
"I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it's not too big a goal."
An eighth straight win by the Hawks tonight against Philadelphia would tie a team record.
"I think in a lot of way (the Flyers) are pretty similar to us," Jonathan Toews said. "They have some really young talent and great goaltending.
The Flyers are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games.
"It should be interesting to see how the teams respond after a couple days without skating," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville.
Star gazing: It's looking as if the Hawks will have three starters for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game.
As of fan voting Wednesday, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were 1-2 among forwards and pulling away. Voting ends Jan. 2.
Kane had more than 595,000 votes, with Toews pulling in more than 500,000. Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf was third with more than 402,000 votes.
Brian Campbell moved into second place among defensemen with more than 489,000 votes. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom remained in first place with over 492,000 votes.
Tip-ins: The NHL's roster freeze doesn't end until Saturday, which means the Hawks don't necessarily have to make a decision on activating Adam Burish and Aaron Johnson off long-term injured reserve until then. ... When the Hawks travel to Minnesota on Sunday to play the Wild, they won't have to see the dangerous Marian Gaborik. The Wild will keep him out of games Sunday against the Hawks and Monday with Calgary to rest his bothersome groin. ... Look for Nikolai Khabibulin to get the start in goal tonight against the Flyers.