Biggest change since Colliton arrived? Hawks' Kane pulling double duty

One of the most drastic changes in how the Blackhawks are being run since Joel Quenneville was fired is coach Jeremy Colliton's double-shifting of Patrick Kane on the power play.

Want to see some proof - and some truly crazy numbers?

Check this out:

• In the last five games Kane played under Quenneville, he was on the ice for 18⅓ out of 30½ power-play minutes.

• In five games under Colliton, Kane has only missed 61 seconds out of nearly 18 minutes of PP time. That includes 5:36 of a possible six minutes during the Hawks' 2-1 shootout loss to the Kings on Friday.

These are staggering statistics, and few coaches attempt this tactic because it can leave their best player at less than 100 percent for the rest of a period.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Colliton clearly believes this struggling unit needs Kane on the ice.

"I've done it with a (defenseman) before. I've never done it with a forward," Colliton said. "So we'll see. I think it can work. …

"If you're in the offensive zone the whole time, it's not hard to play on the power play. If you're going back for pucks and breaking out three or four times, then, yeah, it's not going to work."

The Hawks went 0-for-3 on the man advantage against the Kings, but they did create a few good scoring chances and took 6 shots on goal.

Kane recently said he "loves" playing on both power-play units, and it may just be a matter of time before the floodgates open.

"I don't think (double shifting him) has been a problem so far, and the power play's moving in the right direction," Colliton said.

As opposed to Kevin Dineen's mostly stationary system, Colliton is stressing there needs to be constant movement of both the puck and the players. He wants the penalty killers to get uncomfortable and out of position so that cross-ice passing lanes open up for one-timers.

There were several examples of that happening against the Kings, with Kane twice setting up Brent Seabrook and also giving Nick Schmaltz a great look. Seabrook, who is setting up in the left slot to take advantage of his heavy right-handed shot, had both attempts blocked.

The bottom line is - despite going 1-for-11 on the power play under Colliton - the Hawks are generating far more offensive zone time and doing a much better job of recovering pucks after shots fail to connect.

Now it's just about closing the deal more often.

"What we're trying to get away from is looking for that seam pass immediately when we get in the zone, or taking a shot (when) we don't have anyone in front," Colliton said. "(Because) if we don't recover that puck, we've got to start over.

"Once we go through that process, we're going to create some looks - and I think we did last game. Can we execute better? Yeah, we can.

"And of course we can get on the other end of one of those rebounds and then we'll come through."

Sadistic schedule:

Starting tonight against Minnesota, 19 of the Blackhawks' next 26 games are against teams that would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended Nov. 16. The Hawks face division rivals Winnipeg (11-5-2) and Nashville (14-5-1) three times each during this stretch.

Said Jeremy Colliton after the Hawks lost to the Kings in a shootout Friday: "I've heard about it, yeah. But we're not going to play that stretch of games all at once. It's a cliché, but it's the truth. I don't care about the next game after Sunday, and I didn't think about Sunday until just after the game now."

After playing the Wild, the Hawks play eight of their next 11 contests on the road. That includes an upcoming three-game road trip to Washington, Tampa Bay and Florida.

"It's our job to, as a team, to continue to develop, (and) be more consistent with our performance," Colliton said. "Our job is to put a consistent stretch of high-level performances together and we'll get our points, regardless of who we play."