Chicago Blackhawks make statement with win over Stars

Over the course of an NHL season, one single game among 82 normally doesn't stand out as any more or less important than the others.

Emphasis there on the word “normally.”

For the Chicago Blackhawks, Saturday's contest at Dallas definitely qualified as one that got their attention, probably from the moment they won at Arizona two days earlier.

“It was a statement game, for sure,” Andrew Shaw said Monday after the Hawks wrapped up practice at Johnny's IceHouse West.

The statement the Hawks made came through loud and clear: They can be short-handed six times yet somehow find a way to put a 5-1 pasting on their division rivals. The victory gave the Hawks 76 points, 5 more than Dallas, which has played three fewer games and will be in Chicago on Thursday for the teams' third meeting of the year.

“It was definitely a big one for us to get a little bit of a spread on them,” Corey Crawford said. “But it's more about us playing well as a team throughout the season than necessarily beating one team or having a win in one big game.”

Injuries or trades could shift the power structure around the league, but as of now there's little doubt that the Hawks (36-16-4) and Capitals (38-9-4) are the two best teams in the NHL. In the Hawks' case, it's somewhat amazing how well they've jelled this season after a pedestrian 13-9-4 start.

Certainly it can be easy to forget that in October the Hawks had no idea what kind of player Artemi Panarin would turn into.

Or how Artem Anisimov would fit in centering Panarin and Patrick Kane.

Or how the team would react to Duncan Keith missing 10 games.

Or who would play with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa on the top line.

Or if the short summer would have a negative effect on any of the core players who probably feel like they have gone to sleep with their skates on since the start of the 2012-13 season.

All of those questions have worked out in the Hawks' favor, and they've also incorporated a slew of new faces who have all bought into the Blackhawks Way.

“Did I see us being in the positions we're in right now?” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I'd have been very optimistic thinking like that, but I really like the way it's progressed.

“We're coming off two real good months of December and January. Good start here and let's keep going.”

Quenneville's squad is 23-7 since Dec. 6, which is a 126-point pace over a full season. The tear the Hawks are on puts them in a position where they almost certainly won't need to fret about making the postseason.

There's enough veteran presence in that room, though, to know it's not time to hit cruise control just yet … or maybe ever.

“It's nice to be at the top of the standings, but it's not going to do you much good for the future,” defenseman Rob Scuderi said. “It's always about, what are you going to try to do next?

“Sometimes it seems like a relentless line, but it's how you have to survive in professional athletics because if you let (down) your guard, the game has a cruel way of coming back at you.”

That's the kind of line — coming from a guy who isn't even playing every game — that must make general manager Stan Bowman smile. It certainly fits right into what Toews and Co. preach to their teammates every single season.

Toews was asked Monday how this team differs from the other three Hawks squads that have won the Stanley Cup over the past six seasons.

His answer — just like his team's win in Dallas two days earlier — sent quite a statement to the rest of the NHL.

“Not so different, I don't think,” Toews said, later adding: “I don't think the habits and the culture and the way we work on a daily basis has changed at all. And the experience is still there, so I think that's what makes us a good team.

“The good thing is, we've got a lot of guys that are excited to get to the playoffs … and to know what it's all about to be a Blackhawk and play in this city when it's that time of year, which is the best time to be playing hockey.”

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