Former Hawks helping Coyotes stay in playoff picture

Every professional sports franchise deals with its fair share of injuries.

It's the nature of the beast.

But what the Arizona Coyotes have gone through this season is almost impossible to believe.

"I've been involved in the NHL 30-some years," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said before his Coyotes were beaten 7-1 by the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night at the United Center. "I've seen a lot of stuff. But I've never seen the magnitude of the injuries. I have not."

Nobody would have blinked if the Coyotes, who have lost 336 man games due to injury, plummeted down the standings and ended up vying for the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Instead, this hard-nosed, defensive-minded squad picked up the pieces and is just 1 point behind Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the West.

Former Hawks center Nick Schmaltz was one of the casualties and is out for the season. The play of four other former Blackhawks, however, has been a huge reason Arizona has been shocking teams on a nightly basis.

Chief among them is Niklas Hjalmarsson, who was banged up much of last season and - somewhat ironically - hasn't missed a single game this season.

"I worked out really hard," Hjalmarsson said. "I was a little (ticked) off how that season went for me. I wanted to come back strong and show myself that I could still be a good player in the league."

Hjalmarsson, who spent eight full seasons with the Hawks and helped them win three Stanley Cup titles, embodies what the Coyotes are all about. Even though he's nearly 32, the fearless Swede continues to block shots like it's his first season in the league. His 157 rank third in the NHL, and it's a big reason Arizona is No. 2 overall with 1,106.

"That's in his DNA," Tocchet said. "I think he was born with that (mentality of), 'I'm going to block the shot.' "

Although the blocked shot isn't always the best barometer of how a team is faring, it's still something at which the Blackhawks could be much better. Especially on the penalty kill, where they rank dead last.

"It's not like there's any guys who really don't want to," said Connor Murphy, who ranks fourth on the Hawks with 62 blocks and had 7 in a 2-1 victory over Dallas on Saturday. "It's more about having that knack of knowing and trusting what lane you're in that it's going to hit you.

"It's hard sometimes. Pucks are coming at close to 100 miles per hour. Sometimes you aren't 100 percent sure whether you're there or whether you're screening the goalie, and if it gets by you it might go in."

So what makes Hjalmarsson so good at it? Murphy said guys like that know how to make "their body big" and also know that they are taking up the majority of the shooting lane.

"It's a little bit of a mindset of being able to be in that lane and hold it and have the technique to block it," Murphy said.

Brent Seabrook (142), Duncan Keith (119) and Erik Gustafsson (92) are the Hawks' top shot blockers, but after Murphy - who missed the first 30 games - nobody has more than 40. The Hawks rank 27th with 902.

Arizona, meanwhile, has a whopping 11 players with at least 43, four of whom are forwards.

"Obviously you have the guys like Hjalmarsson that are known for blocking shots and putting their body on the line," said Jordan Oesterle, who played 55 games for the Hawks last season and was traded to the Coyotes along with Vinnie Hinostroza as part of the Marian Hossa deal. "But our group has really bought into it.

"Like we saw (Richard) Panik earlier this year dive and almost make a kick save to block the shot. It's just the mentality we have of being hard in the 'D' zone and to limit teams' chances."

Oesterle estimates half of his 122 blocked shots have hit his body.

As for Hjalmarsson? Probably 75 percent.

Again, it's oftentimes a mentality. Or just in a player's DNA.

While the Hawks have picked it up a bit - blocking a combined 40 shots in wins over Buffalo and Dallas last week - they still have a long way to go before matching what Arizona accomplishes on a nightly basis.

Of course, during Monday's rout of the Coyotes, there wasn't much need to step in front of many pucks. Instead, the Hawks waltzed right back into playoff contention.

"We've been in these playoff hunts before - maybe not as dire of a position as we are right now - but you never know what can happen," said Jonathan Toews, who scored on a second-period penalty shot to put the Hawks up 6-1.

"They're saying that to find that last wild-card spot is going to be a lesser amount of points than it has in previous years. So you can do the math all you want.

"At the end of the day, we're trying to focus and try to get 2 points tonight and we'll go from there."

By the numbers

Blocked shots leaders on the Blackhawks and Arizona

<b>Hawks</b>Player Blocks GP

1. Brent Seabrook 142 65

2. Duncan Keith 119 69

3. Erik Gustafsson 92 66

4. Connor Murphy 62 39

5. Henri Jokiharju 37 38

<b>Coyotes</b>Player Blocks GP

1. Niklas Hjalmarsson 157 69

2. Alex Goligoski 129 63

3. Jordan Oesterle 122 59

4. Jakob Chychrun 71 47

4. Kevin Connauton 69 45

6. Ilya Lyubushkin 58 38

Note: Five more have at least 43

Source: NHL.com